Legends of Love
by OurBlueStorm
Summary: The love story of Viktor and Yuuri has become legend at this point. Their love was the first one might consider to be true love. Nobody really expected the king of day and the king of night to get married, after all...
1. Introduction 1

So this is a fic based of an au by a tumblr user called beanpots. Go check her out for the artwork. (Basically Yuuri is the embodiment of night, and Victor is the embodiment of day)

ALL CONTENT THAT DOES NOT BELONG TO ME BELONGS TO SOMEONE ELSE NONE OF THIS IS MINE EXCEPT THE PLOT AND OCS.

This does have some mature themes in it, but I hope to keep them small.

Mild Cussing, but some gory scenes later on.

NO SMUT! I may get borderline, but I won't write smut to keep the T rating and readers on the larger level.

Pairings:

Viktuuri (Obviously)

Otayuri

Phichimetti (Phichit and Chris cuz I don't ship Phichit and Sueng-Gil)

Sara and Mila or whatever their shipname is.

Possibly very slow updates. This story is going to be VERY long.

Chapter one should be up very soon.

MY TUMBLER IS THE SAME AS MY USERNAME: OurBlueStorm. PLZ FOLLOW ME I'M LONELY


	2. The Beginning

"Prince Yuuri! Your father wants to see you!"

Yuuri shivered at the screechy voice of the maid, but slowly stood up from the chair he had been reading in and went to meet the king of night.

As he approached his father in the throne room and bowed respectfully, he felt a strange sense of apprehension.

"Yuuri."

"Yes?" Yuuri said softly and looked up as he heard his father's deadly calm tone.

Toshiya sighed and dismissed the staff in the throne room. "Yuuri, you can't be antisocial all day. You have real responsibilities as a prince. You must-"

"-Show confidence, I know," Yuuri said. It's not like he expected his father to understand that, firstly, he wasn't confidence, and secondly, if he was ever put in a social situation, he would struggle to be even the slightest bit social. But that would be the downside of being royalty. A prince is always expected to interact with everyone at every single social event at the castle. And the royal family held too many social events for Yuuri to handle.

Toshiya looked at his son for a moment. "You know, you are eligible to be a suitor. You're seventeen now. There are many good young women who would be happy to have you as their husband."

Yuuri's lips pursed. It was a sensitive topic, Toshiya knew, but it was the hard truth. Yuuri had never had much luck with women. The three girls he had tried to ask out rejected him. One was when he was fifteen years old, and she had proclaimed that he wasn't her type. Another had said that Yuuri was too feminine. And Yuuko was the last. Lovely Yuuko. It was after he was rejected for the second time that he tried to ask her out after almost a lifelong crush on her. But Yuuri didn't realize that she was already going out with Takeshi.

Yuuri hated Takeshi. He was always a jerk when they were kids. He had always pushed Yuuri around because of his lacking confidence and body. Since then, Yuuri had vowed to look more like the prince he was.

The Nishigoris were a highly respected family in Lunis. They were the Dream Guardians, who guarded the Tree of Dreams and the Sea of Dreams. Once Takeshi's parents died, he would become the next dream guardian, and his children would take on after him. But after Yuuko had confessed their relationship, Yuuri's heart shattered.

Toshiya knew. He understood. Yuuko was a pretty girl, but Yuuri needed to focus on other things. Maybe if Yuuri got lucky, he would marry a princess who was first in line for the throne, but the chances were slim.

"That's not what you wanted me for, is it?" Yuuri asked, trying to change the subject.

Toshiya smiled. His son was always good at reading people. "No it's not. Prince Viktor's coronation is tomorrow. You should go."

Yuuri felt a whine growing in the back of his throat, but he swallowed it down. "Alright."

Toshiya shot him a glace. "Thank you. You can go."

Yuuri nodded lightly to his father and left the throne room.

 **The next day….**

Yuuri sighed lightly as the maid slipped the soft garments over his head. He was just wearing an indigo tunic to the coronation today with a flowing cover over his back. A silver ring was on his right middle finger, displaying his role in the kingdom. A circlet with a small gem in the shape of a crescent moon on it rested on top of his soft onyx hair, his bangs floating in front of his eyes.

Some of the other officials in the kingdom would be going to the coronation today including the Leroy family, owners of the seat of Prime Minister, but it was traditional that the Lunis royal family go to the Solis coronations and vice versa.

Honestly, Yuuri didn't know why he was nervous. He was always nervous. But it wasn't like he would be the center of attention or anything. That would be the prince's spot. The soon-to-be-king Prince Viktor was always the center of attention. With his striking eyes and handsome face, he deserved it as well.

Solis, the kingdom of day, and Lunis, the kingdom of night always had a very strong treaty. The kingdoms were very close to each other. The treaty had been put up just after Yuuri's father had come into power. Thanks to the treaty, the kingdoms were always there to support each other.

But just less than three months ago, a great sickness had swept through Solis. Both the king and queen of Day died, leaving their 21-year-old son alone. Having recovered up to a point where they could put up a leader, Prince Viktor had been the obvious choice to take over.

Yuuri was most likely never going to take over his kingdom, though. Mari would take over as queen of night when King Toshiya died, and Yuuri was going to marry a pretty girl from another kingdom to make treaties stronger. Not the fate that Yuuri might wish for, but it wasn't really like he had a choice.

Yuuri turned into the grand entrance of the large castle with the maid following close behind him. He saw his mother, father, and sister surrounded by their own servants and bedecked in shining gems.

His father's crown of constellations shone brightly, and dark, flowing robes enveloped him. The cape that enveloped him was covered in stars dark as night. King Toshiya was wearing two rings: one on his right middle finger, displaying his role as king, the other on his left ring finger: his wedding ring.

His mother, Queen Hiroko, was wearing her own tiara with a large gem in the middle. She was wearing a flowing dress of purple and dark blue. Her own royal ring and wedding ring sat in their designated places.

Mari, with a circlet similar to his resting on her dark hair, was wearing a dress of royal blue, with a small choker wrapped around her neck. A ring rested on her right middle finger, signifying her future role as queen.

Yuuri had always felt strange apprehension towards these social events, but this time, something was different. He felt, in a strange sense, that something was going to change today.


	3. Solis

"All hail the Lunis royal family!" a Solian herald bellowed into the crowd. A cheer erupted from them as Toshiya, Hiroko, Mari, and Yuuri stepped out of the carriage. The family made their way to the large castle in the bright kingdom of day, Solis.

Yuuri had never quite gotten used to the bright lights that seemed to be everywhere. Although Solis was bright, Yuuri had never seen this much color. People wore crowns of bright royal blues, shining banners with yellow, and crimson red clothes. Lunis was dark, with dark colors everywhere. The brightest things he had seen were the torches filled with moonfire and the small white flowers that grew abundantly, called nightblooms by the people. Lunis was dark, but in a comforting sense to Yuuri.

As Yuuri looked around at all the people in Solis, he saw all the Solians had lighter skin than him and everyone else on Lunis. The Lunians had lived in the night all their lives, so a trait of the people of Lunis was that their skin had a slight bluish tinge to it. The people of Solis generally lived their lives in the sunlight, never truly experiencing dark unless all the windows were shaded and no torches were lit, much like the people of Lunis lived in the dark, only seeing light through flames and the moon.

The only place where time truly passed like in the mortal world was in the section dividing Lunis and Solis. The days and nights passed there, but no one lived in the large castle. It was used for celebrations that involved both kingdoms, like the eclipse celebrations. In the mortal world, time passed differently. For every year in the kingdoms, a thousand years had passed in the mortal world. That all made Yuuri seventeen thousand years old to the mortals. But clearly not enough time to experience everything that Lunis and Solis offered together.

As Yuuri trailed behind his family into the castle, he couldn't help but look everywhere. He had been to the Solis castle before, but was always awestruck by sheer amount of color he never saw in Lunis. The hall had two large staircases that led to the conference rooms and the chambers of the royal family. Between the two staircases was a large doorway which led to the throne room and banquet halls.

The page led them up the stairs and down a long hallway with many rooms. When he came to the end of the hallway, he opened the large double doors to another room. The room had several couches and a large bookshelf with two large windows and three more doorways which led to the suites the family would be staying in.

The coronation wasn't supposed to take place until the next day, but the kingdom had been celebrating for weeks already. In the meantime, the Lunis royal family would be staying in the castle for the weekend to enjoy in the festivities. Since the ride to Solis had taken several hours, it would be a waste of time to travel the morning of the coronation, which would take place and hour before noon.

Yuuri had stayed in the Solis castle before. Once for the King and Queen's funeral. That was something he wouldn't forget. The sun had been covered by the clouds, and the many bodies of the people that had died were pushed out to sea on small boats. The King and Queen's bodies were in a larger, more decorated boat, and in one swift call, flaming arrows were shot into the sky, the boats catching on fire, and sinking slowly.

That had been the only time Yuuri had seen the prince cry. His face was emotionless, but tears rolled slowly down his cheeks as he clutched the bow to his side, his father's advisor, Nikolai Plisetsky, wrapping an arm around his shoulder. Nikolai's grandson and next in line, Yuri, stood silently to the side.

Yuuri let out a puff of air as he entered his own suite, where the servants had left his bags, and stripped off all the stiff clothes he had been forced to wear for the last few hours. Although the ride was long, the family had still been expected to look their best when they arrived in Solis.

He made his way to the bathrooms, slipping into the drawn bath that he had requested upon his arrival. He sighed as the warmth washed over his sore body and let his face down from the forced smile he had kept up for the time. His chin sank down to the frothy bubbles as he relaxed further.

It was nothing like the baths he had in Lunis, though. Back home, the baths were much larger, even though these ones were big themselves. The hot springs had plants in every corner, and if he wanted to be alone, like usual, he would go to his private baths and tell the servants not to bother him.

He must have spent an hour in there, because by the time he wanted to get out, the water was lukewarm and the bubbles were all gone. He managed to pull himself and wrap a fluffy towel around his waist. He slipped on a soft shirt and loose pants and flopped onto the bed. Managing to get himself under the fluffy covers, he curled up into a ball and let sleep wash over his senses.


	4. The Coronation

**I'm so sorry this is late. I had it ready for a few days, but was too lazy to put it up. It's shorter than usual.**

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"Your Majesty! Please hold still!" the maid shrieked as she tried to fit the tight garment around Yuuri's waist.

"I-hrrrk… okay," he managed to squeeze out as she yanked on it again. The outfit was probably the tightest thing Yuuri had ever worn. It was an extremely tight dark purple button-down shirt with a leather shoulder piece and a bright purple gem in the middle of it. The pants were black with another tight waist piece. The boots were also black with more purple gems on the front. His hair brushed his forehead as the moonstone crescent circlet was settled on his head.

In short, Yuuri was going to be very uncomfortable that day. He managed to walk to the room where he would join his family.

"Oh, here he is," Hiroko said as he walked in.

"Finally," Mari rolled her eyes. "We've been waiting for ages."

"Mari, don't exaggerate. I expect that waist piece was very hard to put on, wasn't it?" Hiroko chided her daughter.

The maid nodded vigorously. "He wouldn't hold still!"

Yuuri made an awkward face. "Sorry."

Toshiya sighed at his son's lack of conversation. "The coronation is in an hour. Please be social, Yuuri."

Yuuri seemed to find something very interesting on his boots at that moment. "Okay."

Toshiya, Mari, and the maids left the room, but Hiroko held Yuuri back. She straightened the already straight circlet and brushed imaginary dust off his shoulders. She met his eyes and gave him a little smile. "Shoulders back, smile at everyone, be nice…"

"Okay, mother."

She eyed him. "Yuuri, what did you talk about with your father? You've been off ever since."

It was true. After the two had talked, Yuuri had hidden himself in his chambers more often. "He wants me to get married soon. He wants me to meet someone today. He already had a list in his head, I'm positive."

Hiroko sighed. She looked up at him. "Yuuri, I'm sorry, but you don't always get to choose. I didn't. Things don't change. You aren't always going to get what you want."

"I know," he said. "I just… Never mind. We should go."

Hiroko took the signal quickly. "Alright."

Downstairs in the hall was already packed when they arrived. There were royals, nobles, and officials from almost every single kingdom Yuuri had heard of. In other words, a lot. When they reached the bottom of the stairs, Hiroko was swamped by people. Yuuri was pushed away, then was surrounded by another group of people.

"Alright, give the boy some space," came a booming voice from Yuuri's right. A sharp turn of his head, and there was Nikolai Plisetsky, the royal advisor. The people drifted away, and Yuuri turned to Nikolai.

"Thank you."

Nikolai smiled kindly. "No need to thank me. You must be prince Yuuri. Your father has told me about you." Yuuri's alarmed face must have given him away as Nikolai chuckled lightly. "All good things, though."

He turned to his side to reveal a small boy hiding behind him. "This is my grandson. You haven't met Yuri yet, have you?"

Yuuri gave a little smile to the boy. "No, we haven't met, but I've heard of him." Eight years old and orphaned due to the sickness that had taken the king and queen, he would take up his grandfather's place once Nikolai died.

Yuri did not smile back, but continued to glare at the prince. Nikolai nudged his grandson lightly. "Come on, Yura, say hello." When the boy gave no response, he turned back to Yuuri. "My apologies. I've told him about you, but he doesn't like people with the same name as him."

"Oh," came Yuuri's unenthusiastic reply.

"Well, come on. The coronation's about to start and I really don't think you'll want to miss it.

The throne room was full of people. Yuuri was standing near the front with his family, and a large aisle was down the middle of the large room. Soon enough, the trumpets sounded and Yuuri's breath was stolen from his throat.

The prince was beautiful. He was wearing a white tunic with red trousers and black leather boots, and his cape was a shimmering golden, turning into a lighter red as it got closer to his shoulders. His long silver hair was pulled into a ponytail at the back of his head with a golden circlet resting on top.

When Viktor reached the altar, he swore the oath, and bent down in front of the man. The short, stubby man took the circlet off Viktor's head, and in its place, a golden crown with seven golden spikes that looked like sun rays pointing off.

And the new king of Solis turned around to face his people, and his eyes met Yuuri's.


	5. Change

**Shorter than usual. I won't be updating for a while due to Thanksgiving break in America. WOOT. I'll be back closer to the end of November/beginning of December.**

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People crowded the ballroom. There was so much noise-laughing and talking and music. Yuuri was overwhelmed by the amount of people who wanted to talk to him. People were crowding Mari, asking her if she would mind eventually partnering with King Viktor in the future when she was crowned Queen.

King Viktor himself was flirting with some young noblewomen near the middle of the room. His eyes met Yuuri's and he walked away from the ladies towards the prince.

"You looked lonely," the king pointed out.

"Of course I looked lonely, Your Highness. I was alone," Yuuri snarked.

Viktor laughed loudly. "You're funny!" he chuckled, grinning. Yuuri had never seen that smile before. Viktor usually had a constant smirk placed on his lips, winking and flirting with anyone he made eye contact with. Him and the king had met before, at different gatherings between the two kingdoms, but had never really had a conversation. "You must be Yuuri, the Lunis second prince."

"Yes," Yuuri looked Viktor in the eye, "so I won't be able to sympathize with you about the hardships of leading a kingdom."

Viktor grinned at Yuuri with a heart-shaped smile, not the smirks he usually saw in portraits of the young man.

Just then, Nikolai called over the new king to meet someone who looked very important, dressed in the military uniforms of another kingdom.

The King of Day flipped back around to Yuuri, smiling again. "I'm terribly sorry, but my hardships of leading are starting." He winked and turned around again, long silver hair flipping in front of Yuuri's face and prancing off to his advisor.

Yuuri was staring off at the king's retreating figure, when someone reached behind him and poked him hard in his stomach.

Yuuri, shrieking loudly, flew around to see a grinning face looking up at him. "Phichit-kun!"

Phichit giggled. "So… someone was talking with another certain someone…"

Yuuri his eyes. "Phichit, we were just chatting for like, two minutes."

Phichit was his father's advisor's son. The two had meet a few years ago, Phichit being two years than Yuuri, and having that contagious immaturity to go with it. His friend was still grinning when Yuuri began to come out of shock. "You were still talking to the most handsome man in Solis! Why was he talking to you?"

Yuuri glared at his best friend. "I was standing by myself, he saw me, and came up to me."

Phichit seemed to have a heart attack while giggling like a madman. "Was he talking to anyone else at the time?"

"He was flirting with a few women, but left when he saw me. But it really isn't that big of a deal. He just said I looked lonely. It's not like he cares."

Phichit almost fainted. "He doesn't care?! Yuuri, you got the most handsome man in the two kingdoms to take notice of you!"

Yuuri rolled his eyes, not wanting to get his hopes up. "He was pitying me. And before that, he was openly flirting with women. Not men."

Phichit huffed. "Just because he was flirting with women doesn't mean he doesn't like guys, Yuuri."

"Exactly. I don't like guys," Yuuri muttered as he began to walk out of the ballroom into an empty side room.

His friend followed him. "You wouldn't know! You were always too shy to ask Yuuko out, and you always turn down the girls I try to introduce you to!"

"Maybe I just won't get married. It's not that big of a deal," Yuuri said annoyedly.

Phichit eyed him. "You know that not getting married can't be a reality for you, Yuuri. It will help your kingdom so much, even if you don't really love them."

Yuuri finally snapped. "I know, Phichit! I'm going to help my kingdom through a loveless marriage to some pretty little girl I won't ever have met before, and it's all going to be okay even though I don't get what I want." His voice echoed around the small room. "I'm sorry, Phichit, but everything is moving so fast and I can't keep up."

"Maybe you don't need to. It's not like everything is going to go to chaos in one day. The world doesn't work like that. If you just talk to us, we could help you. We're all ready to."

Yuuri offered a small smile to his friend. "Thanks, but I think I may need more time to think."

Suddenly, a loud crash and screams were heard from the main ballroom. Yuuri and Phichit looked at each other. "What the…." Yuuri muttered as he rushed quickly to the door, only to be pushed back by a young page with a stoic expression who looked to be maybe 13 years old.

He looked at Yuuri with brown eyes. "My orders are to make sure you stay in here. There's been an assassination attempt. Your mother and sister are dead, your highness."


	6. Wars of Faith

**Later than usual, sorry. I've got midterms coming up, and won't be able to update until after Tuesday, and I won't have a new chapter started by then. Btw, the title of this chapter is called Wars of Faith, and it's a song for a trailer by a group called Audiomachine. I just thought it reflected the mood of the chapter. I'll be doing chapter titles like this frequently. Until that comes, enjoy an angsty chapter, my little... I don't know what to call you guys. 873 words.**

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Outcries of chaos reached every corner of the castle as more royals and nobles were shoved into the room Yuuri and Phichit had been locked in. Yuuri's eyes darted around frantically as he searched for his father, in the hopes he had some family left.

The door to the room opened again, and Phichit's father, Benz, the advisor to Yuuri's father stumbled in, carrying a body. Benz set the body down, eliciting a tired groan from the person.

Yuuri rushed forwards to his father. "Are you alright? What happened?"

Toshiya groaned again and managed to turn onto his back. Yuuri crouched and his eyes were immediately drawn to the blood trickling down his father's fingers from a wound in his stomach. Yuuri gasped lightly as his hand brushed the wound and Toshiya grunted in pain. "Who did this?"

The king drew in a deep breath and spoke shakily, to the people in the room, "I need to speak to my son alone."

Everyone else in the room drew away to a corner. Yuuri leaned down to his father, holding back the tears that threatened to spill over his cheeks. "Who?"

"His name is Knise. He was a dream guardian some time ago, before his family was replaced by the Nishigoris. He…" Toshiya drew another breath, panting now. "He tried to destroy the kingdom once, before you were born. We survived, but barely. Only thanks to the assistance from Solis did we survive." He winced as he tried to lie flat on his back, aggravating the bloody wound on his stomach. "Benz can explain the rest to you. I'm so sorry, Yuuri. There's… there's so much more to explain that I can't."

A tear managed to break through Yuuri's defenses. "What do you want me to do?"

Toshiya smiled proudly at his son through a grimace. "Take it…. Yuuri… I know that you don't want it… You have no choice now… I'm so sorry…."

Toshiya managed one more breath, and then lost his fight. His head fell back, his shoulders relaxed and his bloody hands slipped to his side as the reaper took him away. Yuuri was left seeing his own reflection in his father's dead, glassy eyes.

Gasps filled the room, but Yuuri did not move from his place by his father's side.

 **About 3 hours later**

The same page from before slipped into the room quietly and walked up to Benz. The room had been silent since Toshiya's last words. "The offender has been held off and arrested. You need to take him," the boy nodded at Yuuri, "and get him back to Lunis. It's safer there. The carriages are being pulled around the front of the castle ready to take him back."

Benz nodded silently and walked to Yuuri's side. "Yuuri."

Yuuri did not answer, but only blinked. His face showed no emotion, but the silent tears that slipped down his cheeks gave him away. "Yuuri, we need to leave. We don't know if Knise had others and we need to get you to a safer place back in Lunis."

A slight dip of a head was all Benz got in response. The advisor stood up, and pulled a shaky Yuuri up after him. He nodded to his son. "Bring Yuuri to the carriages. You heard the rest."

Phichit nodded and grabbed his friend. Once they had left the room, Yuuri tugged his arm away from Phichit. "Yuuri? Are you alright?"

Yuuri said nothing in response. A few minutes later, as Benz promised, a small carriage was waiting for them outside the stables, two smoky horses pawing the ground restlessly. Once they had climbed inside, they were surprised to see the page from before squeeze in.

"Alright who are you?" Phichit questioned as the carriage began to move on the rocky path to their home kingdom.

The young page looked at them. "My name is Otabek Altin. My job is to protect the prince until we get back to Lunis. Depending on my success, I may be placed as his bodyguard when he is crowned king."

Yuuri stared at Otabek. "Hang on, kid. Since when am I going to be crowned king?"

"Because King Toshiya is dead, the position normally would have gone on to your sister, Princess Mari. But because she, and Queen Hiroko, died in the beginnings of the skirmish, you, the prince, will be the next ruler of Lunis."

This had not occurred to Yuuri, what his duty to his kingdom would be now that the rest of his family was dead. Yuuri felt tears brimming in his eyes. "I… I can't lead."

Phichit stared at him. "Why not?! This is what everyone has been telling you your entire life, that you'll never lead. This is such an opportunity!"

"An opportunity that I never saw myself coming to, Phichit! I don't know the first thing about leading a country, and now that my family is gone…" The tears fought harder against his efforts, threatening to spill over his cheeks. "I-I…" His voice cracked and a sob tore through his throat.

The tears started to come, hot and wet, running down his face and onto his clothes. Phichit held him close, pulling his friend in close to his shoulder.


	7. When It All Falls Down

**Ugh, guys, I'm so sorry. I meant to have this up about a week ago, but I** **'ve been proc** **rastinating too much, and school is crazy and AAAAAAAAAA. Anyways, here is the next chapter. I feel super bad, so I almost already have the next chapter ready and will post ASAP. Title is "When it All Falls Down" from Audiomachine again. Plz tell me if you guys like these song titles. I think it's kinda fun to do them.**

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Yuuri watched through the window as more carriages began to arrive at the castle. He saw officials climb out, as well as Benz and the Prime Minister. The two seemed to be in a very heated discussion, and shut themselves in a small room down the hall once they were in the castle.

As Yuuri walked by, he caught a snipped of the conversation.

"…too young!"

"He's mature enough! This shouldn't be a problem, sir."

"Seventeen is too young, Your Honor! Princess Mari was struggling with her duties, and she had been preparing herself for eight years!"

"I won't stand by and let the senate make decisions slowly, Prime Minister. I refuse to let both kingdoms fall under the supervision of a twenty-one year old while you and your senate take three months or more to make a decision about our leadership!"

The Prime Minister seemed to pause, most likely with an angry look on his face, attempting to stare down the embodiment of Dusk. "I won't be like Solis. I refuse to let my plan- "

"What plan, Prime Minister?"

"Nothing of the matter, Dusk," the Minister replied shakily. "I've made my decision, and Prince Yuuri should not be allowed to rule."

An angry huff came from Benz. "We will discuss this later, Prime Minister. We are all stressed and tired after today's events. Now, if you will excuse me, I need to speak to the prince."

Yuuri rushed away from the door as it opened, and he saw a softly smiling Benz with a fuming Prime Minister behind him. "Yuuri! Come with me, please."

Benz grabbed Yuuri's arm and pulled him down the hall. Yuuri looked back and saw the Prime Minister glaring at him with dagger eyes.

"Where are we going?" Yuuri's own weak voice surprised him as he spoke for the first time since arriving back in Lunis.

Benz led him up to a stairwell. "Don't worry. You just need to take care of something." The two climbed the high stairwell in silence. Once they reached the top, there was a small door to the left. He opened it, and a soft gasp echoed around the small room.

They were in the tallest tower of the castle, with a large balcony overlooking the city. Soft lights shone from shop windows and small houses. The forests that took up most of the ring-shaped island were dark from here, and the small villages were flickering with campfires. The lake in the middle of the island was shimmering under the eternal night. He could see the Midworld from there, still day, but darkening quickly as Benz brought Dusk. In the distance, there was a fainter glimmer of brighter light: Solis. "It's beautiful."

"Isn't it?" Benz closed his eyes as a soft breeze rippled through the air, lightly tousling Yuuri's hair, as he, too, closed his eyes and felt the peaceful atmosphere. It was as if the world was holding its breath and waiting for something incredible. Yuuri couldn't help but feel as if he had let it down.

Benz looked down at him. "Your father's duty was to raise the moon every night. Now it is yours until a new king is crowned, whether it be you or somebody else."

Yuuri blanched. "R-raise the moon? I don't know how…"

Benz faced him and grabbed his shoulders. "I'll teach you. I do something similar, remember? I bring Dusk every night, but it's your job to bring night itself." Benz looked at Yuuri, prying brown eyes seeming to stare into Yuuri's soul. "Do you trust me? I need to you trust me."

Yuuri nodded hesitantly. "Good," said Benz. Now, close your eyes."

Yuuri did so. It was so quiet up here. The only sound was the soft wind rustling through the distant trees, and his own quiet heartbeat. "Feel your magic, Yuuri. It's there, you just need to feel it." Yuuri felt out in the silence, and something was there. A being there, begging for him to reach out…. "That's it, Yuuri."

Then, in a flash of dark colors and emotion, his father came. The hall, earlier that same day, and man, dark haired, sword raised. There were men behind him, but Toshiya was not facing them. He was trying to get to two prone bodies lying on the floor. "There's somebody here…."

Benz was at alert in a moment. In a moment, he understood. The magic had been waiting for the next in line to take over, to show Yuuri what had happened to his predecessor. "Your father's last moments, Yuuri. Tell me what they were."

"There's a man," Yuuri said shakily. "He has a sword." The man raised it, a silent cry echoing somewhere in the distance, and leapt at Yuuri. A small cry of fear left his throat as pain coursed through his body. "He wasn't looking. H-he was looking for me." The pain came again as his father hit the floor, yelling in pain. "It hurts, Benz. It's hurting him." he wailed as hot tears started streaming down his face.

Benz looked sadly at the trembling boy beside him, eyes clenched shut and tears streaming down his face. "He's dying, Yuuri. This is your job now. Take the magic. It's yours now."

Yuuri cried out as he reached out again, further, terrible memories and pain washing over him, and he reached out…. And took the power. He shot his eyes open and looked out at Midworld. The moon was climbing into the sky steadily.

He sank to his knees with a sob as the tears came. His shoulders shook as Benz took him into his arms and helped Yuuri lean into him. "It's okay, Yuuri. I'm here." Yuuri turned his face into the man's chest and wept for his family and what was to come.


	8. Color the Sky

**Goodness, this ended up being longer than I thought it would be. Double update, as I promised. This first part takes place in the same time as the previous chapter.**

Viktor looked over across his city and the Midworld island to see the kingdom of Night. It was the only darkness in the sky, as it was still Day in the world between the two larger islands.

The doctor beside him slowly wrapped bandages around Viktor's arm. One of the men from the assassination attempt had managed to slice a deep gash down his arm, starting halfway down his bicep and running down to his forearm, about a hand's length. "The blade missed any major arteries, but you should still come to me twice a day to change the bandages, Your Highness."

Viktor nodded mindlessly as the doctor tied of the bandages and left. He was sitting on the railing of the balcony on the tallest tower of his castle in Solis. The breeze blew through his long, silver hair, lifting strands across his face and through the thin nightshirt he had rolled up to his shoulder.

Footsteps sounded from behind. "You know, Yakov, sneaking up on me won't do much more for my health if I fall off this balcony."

Solis Prime Minister Yakov Feltsman snorted lightly as he walked closer to the newly crowned king watching his sun set, the two of them waiting for the moon to rise. "How do you think it will go?" Yakov said.

"I believe in Prince Yuuri. First time is the hardest," Viktor replied, tone unwavering. It was true, though. Viktor really did think that the young prince had more to him than everybody thought.

"That's not what I meant," Yakov rolled his eyes. "The Prime Minister of Lunis has been up to something lately. Today only confirmed my suspicions."

"How so?" Viktor asked. When Yakov paused he said again, "I can't rule like you want me to if I don't know what's going on, especially with another very new ruler."

Yakov looked at his student, then turned back to watch Midworld. "The Prime Minister of Lunis does not want Prince Yuuri to become king. He's under the impression that two young kings together can't be good for our treaties. At least, that was his concern in the letter he just sent me."

"What did you tell him?" Viktor asked.

"I told him that we should wait until both kingdoms have recovered, and then he must work things out himself with the prince, who may still want to take up his father's role."

"That's understandable, but I can only fear for what his true intentions must be," Viktor said.

Yakov stared at the king. "Vitya, if you don't trust the government, there is little we can do without your consent. You can't do much in this situation, but when we get to strengthening our treaties, it really doesn't help if you don't trust the other kingdoms."

"I know, Yakov, but I can't help but think that something else is going on here," Viktor pleaded with his mentor.

"That's enough, Vitya. We'll talk about this later. We are all stressed and tired after today. You should get some rest," Yakov said, gesturing to the king's arm.

"Hmm," Viktor grunted a reply, eyes still fixed on the horizon. Yakov left, and the wind came back. Viktor's hair was blown across his face as a stronger gust came through.

The sun was setting slowly in the Midworld, and very slowly, the moon came up. Yuuri's moon seemed dimmer that Toshiya's, but Viktor could only guess it was the memories. It had happened to him, too. The sun had given him his father's last fever-filled memories of his life, and then the sun had been his.

Raising the sun had become easier over time. Viktor could only hope that the same happened for the prince.

-fancy line break-

About an hour later, back in Lunis

Benz helped the tired Yuuri down the stairs and to his chambers. The young page who had been with Yuuri before tagged along a few feet back.

Once Benz had tucked the prince into his large bed, Benz turned around and left the room, summoning a few guards to keep watch outside the room. One could never be too careful after an assassination attempt, so he placed a few guards below the prince's window, as his room was in a smaller tower in the west wing.

Once he was alone in the hallways with the page, Benz turned around. "What's your name?"

"Otabek Altin," came the short reply.

"Well, Otabek," Benz said. "You are a very resourceful young man. I need you to do me a favor."

"Anything, sir," said the page.

Benz paused for a moment. If his suspicions were false, this boy would get in trouble. But his suspicions were rarely wrong, he assured himself. "I need you to do some investigating on the Prime Minister for me. Tell me if he is doing anything strange, and report to me at the end of every day. Do you understand, Otabek?"

"Yes, sir," said the boy.

"Good. Your job starts now."

The page nodded and turned away, walking with a purpose down the hall to where the Minister was currently, or as Benz suspected, up to something.

 **MY TUMBLER IS THE SAME AS MY USERNAME: OurBlueStorm. PLZ FOLLOW ME I'M LONELY**


	9. A Traitor Among Us

**So, I have decided to make a schedule. Yay! I'll be updating every Tuesday, but other stuffs can be found on my tumblr... same username... Plz**

* * *

 **A few days later**

Everyone was gathered down by the beaches behind the large city. Yuuri was dressed in his royal robes as people filed past him, whispering condolences quietly, not daring break the silence. They all held a small lamp of dark blue light and white flowers-one of the only kinds that bloomed at night.

Several small boats were resting in the sand, with three much larger ones in the middle. The people put their flowers into all the boats, next to the bodies covered with cloth.

The people were all dressed in formal robes, lining up on the beach, some of them with tears streaking down their faces as they looked sadly at the bodies of the deceased, friends and family for some of them. Including Yuuri.

Almost the entire kingdom was there. All the nobles, military leaders, and members of the senate, along with most of the citizens. Once everyone had filed past him, Yuuri slowly approached the three boats with royal blue flowers in his own hands. He gently rested them on the bodies of his parents and sister, and backed away slowly.

Yuuri managed to tear his eyes away, and nodded to Benz, who had been standing beside him, who then signaled towards a small group of knights, who slowly and silently pushed the boats into the rippling water. The last three were the largest ones, containing the king, queen, and princess. These boats had the most flowers in them, with the bodies decorated in jewels and expensive cloths.

Once all the boats had been pushed out, Benz handed Yuuri a bow and three arrows. He turned to the pit of moon fire beside him, and lit one arrow. He pulled back and fired at the boat on the right. Mari's boat. He did the same to his mother's, and then his father's.

Everybody on the beach let their lamps fly all at once, and the shore was covered in lights, both from the burning boats and the flying lights. The kingdom of night was lit up, and a tear slipped down the prince's face.

-fancy line break-

Otabek stood close to the prince, and even closer to the Prime Minister. He hadn't been surprised at all when the Dusk viceroy had asked him to follow the man. He seemed to be very secretive, sneaking around when there was no need.

The funeral ended, and Otabek expected him to return to the castle with the other officials, but the Minister instead took a stormy gray horse from the stables and rode off north along the beach. Otabek took another horse, a smaller one given his height, and followed at a safe distance, keeping closer to the trees to avoid being seen.

Otabek knew where the Minister was going. The large prison was north this way. Why, was what Otabek did not know. What possible business could the Prime Minister have with criminals?

After about 10 minutes, the large tower came into view, and the Minister climbed off the horse and handed the reigns to a guard. He entered the prison, and Otabek had no choice but to follow. He snuck behind the guards by the entrance, but judged there was a small chance of him getting into any kind of trouble if he was caught. He knew some of these guards. They had had a hand in his training, and had a good opinion of him.

Once he was inside, he caught glimpse of a cloak disappearing around a corner. He followed around corners, around guards, and fell behind to avoid a sighting. Some of the prisoners shouted at him as he dashed past, but he did not stop.

Suddenly, the Minister stopped, and Otabek hid behind a corner. A raspy voice sounded, and Otabek had to hold back a cringe. "How did the funeral go?"

"Without any problems, master," the Prime Minister spoke back. "The viceroy of Dawn is set on crowning the prince."

"Good. Have patience now," said the voice.

"It was a brilliant plan, master. Attempting to convince the viceroy to not crown the prince only made it happen faster. The coronation will happen in a week's time."

"This is good," came the raspy voice. "However, be cautious. Some suspicion may have arisen in your apparent distrust."

"Nobody suspects anything," said the Minister, almost sounding offended. "The only person who had the power to arrest me is the king, and once the boy is crowned, I believe that he won't know who to trust anymore. He will turn to me."

"Don't rush things," the voice snapped. "If this goes as planned, we will need to wait until he is comfortable in his role. Given the rumors, that may take a while."

The Prime Minister snorted. "I have this under control, master." He stood, and turned down the hall. Otabek backed up and slipped into a different hallway, and rushed back to his post. He needed to see a face, or a name. Anything to tell Benz. The prince needed to know who killed his father.

What he saw shook him to his core. Gold eyes glinted back at him, a maniac smile on a mouth. "Young child, are you lost?"

"No," Otabek replied curtly.

"Oh," replied the man, still grinning. "Come closer."

Otabek did, a decision definitely against his better judgement. Suddenly, the man lunged, and Otabek leapt back as a hand shot through bars and took a fistful of his shirt. "Do you know who I am, boy?" the man growled, all traces of the carefree tone he held before gone.

Otabek stayed silent, dark, emotionless eyes staring straight back into the gold ones.

The man glared back. "My name is Melaka Knise. I killed the king. And the prince will be my next victim."

* * *

 **Firstly, no, Knise is not Yuuri's father. Secondly, in the worlds of Lunis and Solis, time passes so that every thousand years that passes to us, one passes to them. So, Otabek's age is 12 at the moment, but he is more mature than he seems, as he has been living for 12 thousand years.**


	10. Treason

**Right... sorry it's late, I was busy. I'll still be updating on Tuesday.**

* * *

Yuuri shifted in his large bed as the door to his room was opened. A light shuffling sounded, and a large weight dropped on top of him moments later.

A grunt sounded as the weight shifted, then giggled. "Wake up, Yuuri!"

Yuuri rolled onto his stomach as opened his bleary eyes. Phichit grinned back at him, eyes wide, a small something wrapped in a blanket in his arms. "Happy birthday!"

Yuuri did not reply, choosing instead to roll back over and continue snoring. Phichit groaned. "Come on, Yuuri! It's your birthday!" he repeated.

Yuuri opened his eyes again to see Phichit holding out the package to him, pouting. "Please?"

"Ugh," Yuuri grunted again and sat up in the bed, Phichit scrambling back, and placing the package in his lap. He wrinkled his nose, looking to his best friend, who was still grinning happily. "It's moving. What's in here, Phichit?"

When his friend gave no answer, he looked back to the wriggling thing, and slowly undid the knot on the top. "Nothing better jump out at me, or you're in big trouble." He opened the blanket, and a small gasp came involuntarily from his mouth.

In the blanket was a black greyhound puppy, panting quietly. He gently lifted it out, his face in a permanent look of shock. "W-what?"

Phichit seemed to enlarge his grin, seeing his friend's face. "Her name is Willow. I know you like poodles more, but father said greyhounds are much more useful, and she was so cute."

"Uh-huh," said Yuuri, still staring at the wriggling puppy. Of course, Benz would say greyhounds are useful. The viceroy had had his own greyhound in his younger days, when he enjoyed hunting with Yuuri's father.

The dog, named Kai after the hero of one of Benz's favorite books, had been one of Yuuri's only friends growing up in the lonely castle, as his own sister was seven years older than him. Kai had died of old age years ago, but Benz had always loved the hunting dogs as much as Yuuri grew up loving poodles.

Yuuri, too, had also had a dog when he was younger. Her name was Yukachin, a jumpy brown poodle, named after Yuuri's first crush on a young girl named Yuuko. Yuuko, however, had started dating Takeshi, the young man who had bullied Yuuri when he was younger. The bullying had only stopped when Takeshi realized, and Yuuri for that matter, that Yuuri was gay, and would not love her in any other way than as a friend.

Yuuri had loved Yukachin so much, but she had died since she was already old when Yuuri received her as a gift from his mother and mother.

The thought made his throat swell up. He fought back the tears as the black puppy panted and wriggled happily in his hands. "Yuuri?" Phichit asked tentatively. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah," Yuuri sniffed as he wiped his nose on the sleeve of his night shirt. "Sorry."

Phichit smiled softly. "Well, breakfast is ready when you want it."

Yuuri nodded slightly and set Willow down on the bed as Phichit left the room. He pet her head softly, and she wiggled and rolled onto her back, with begging eyes. Yuuri smiled and complied with her wishes, rubbing her belly.

Yuuri stood, and made his way downstairs after changing. He looked out the window, seeing the Midworld doused in the light of the rising sun. The king of Day would be doing his job now, the same way Yuuri rose the moon every night. However, his kingdom was still dark, the eternal night the only thing he really knew.

He wasn't halfway out of his room when Otabek, the page, rushed by, stopped, and backtracked. "Your Majesty, where is Viceroy Chulanout?"

"Um…" Yuuri paused. "I… have no idea. I just woke up, so…" Otabek, finding him of no use, rushed by before he could finish. "Wait!" Yuuri called, and when the page did not stop, the prince followed him.

They had not been walking for long until they ran across the viceroy. Benz looked at the pair amusedly, until he saw the look on Otabek's face. "What is it?"

Otabek glanced at Yuuri for a moment, but spoke when the viceroy nodded at him. "I followed the Prime Minister to the prison in the east. He was speaking with Melaka Knise, the man who organized the assassination attempt."

Benz nodded pensively, and Yuuri stared at the page. "Wait, what? The Prime Minister?" He turned to Benz, then back to Otabek. "Who is Knise? I'm so confused… what's going on?!"

Benz took Yuuri by the arm and pulled him into an empty room, Otabek following. "Yuuri, the Prime Minister is working with the man who killed your father. Melaka Knise was a friend of your father's and mine. He was the Dream Guardian before the Nishigori family took over. Knise abused his power, and your father had to fire him and throw him in prison. When Knise was arrested, he went insane and said that his power could not be contained, and he could make Toshiya's life a living hell. He killed Toshiya, though, so I don't really know why he's targeting you. I had my suspicions when the Prime Minister said he did not want you to be king. I told Otabek to follow him around and make sure he did nothing suspicious, but I don't want to arrest him. It would be bad for the kingdom to know that their senate has been led by a traitor all this time, but now I guess I have no choice."

Yuuri's head swam with the overload of information. His breath grew quicker, and he began to sway. His heart began to pound faster and harder, his eyes swimming with stressed tears and a lump grew in his throat. He briefly heard Benz dismissing Otabek, then wrapping his arms around Yuuri. The tears came once more, and Benz was there again to comfort him.


	11. New Beginnings

**Notes at the bottom.**

* * *

The maids did their best. Yuuri gave them that, but when he looked in the large mirror, he did not see himself. Instead, he saw an ethereal creature dressed in dark blues and purples, the circlet of silver metal resting on his head, soon to be removed and replaced with the crown of constellations.

The clothes he wore were extravagant: it was all royal blue, with different shades mixed in. There were silver accents here and there. The top was sleeveless, and was cut in such a way that it showed off some, but not too much shoulder. The neck was high, with a band of silver surrounding his throat, the kingdom's emblem sitting just below it. The belt was thick and black, with small silver pieces of metal decorating it. The belt held up a piece of royal blue cloth that hung freely and just barely brushed the floor. The pants were a navy blue, the boots black with silver designs crawling up the inside of his foot and lower calf. There were gloves, too, black on the hands, cutting off at his wrists, but extending further up his arm on the back of his hand. Where the glove cut off at his wrist, royal blue sleeves covered his arms to halfway up his bicep, silver bands around his arm, and decorations that looked like blue feathers accenting his shoulders.

He saw himself in the mirror, his hair brushed back, and he only saw what everyone wanted their king to be. Beautiful, strong, and powerful. Sure, he had power, but this was power he had not known existed in him until a week ago.

He sighed and walked out of the room, the maids on his heels, Willow yapping as she saw him leave the room, where Benz, Otabek and Phichit were waiting. Benz smiled lightly at him, and turned to Otabek. "Otabek, would you take the prince to the balcony upstairs?"

A woman, Benz's wife and therefore Phichit's mother based off their similarities, piped up: "Actually, I'd like to speak to him, darling. That wouldn't be a problem, would it?" she turned to Otabek, who looked hesitant. "You can come with, if you would like." The page relaxed at that, and the viceroy's wife smiled kindly at Yuuri.

The two began to walk quietly, her black and silver dress floating after her like smoke. She looked young for her age, late thirties he had once heard and still seemed to walk with a bounce in her step, despite the trauma to the kingdom recently. "You look lovely, darling," she said after a minute.

"Thank you, ma'am," he replied curtly, and she chuckled lightly. "No need for the courtesies, correct? You call me by my name, and I'll call you by mine, Yuuri." She smiled up at him. "It's Dao, by the way."

He smiled to the floor. It was nice to not have everyone call him 'Your Majesty', or 'the prince'. They were all so impersonal, and it was nice to have someone to call him by his name. Only Phichit and his family had done that, and on occasion, Benz, but now he had Dao, another person to confide in. "Thank you."

They reached the balcony not much later, and Yuuri could clearly see a large crown amassing in the large throne room. There were, like at the king of Solis' coronation, many nobles and officials from neighboring kingdoms, and the king himself, with duller robes of sky blue and yellow, silver hair again tied back at the back of his neck, golden crown still high on his head.

Yuuri breathed deeply and turned back to Dao, who now looked at him calmly. "Was there anything you really wanted to talk to me about?"

The viceroy's wife smiled. "No, you just looked like you needed someone else to talk to." She saw the small look of thanks on Yuuri's face, and took that as her leave. "I expect Benz is waiting for me." A nod, and she walked back down the stairs, to her awaiting husband and son, leaving him alone with Otabek.

He turned back to look to the crown. Nobody had noticed him yet, except for the king of Solis. He looked up at Yuuri for a moment, and gave a great heart-shaped smile up at him. Yuuri gave back what he assumed to be an awkward, bewildered smile.

Otabek cleared his throat, and Yuuri turned back to the page. "It's time."

Ten minutes passes like a second, Yuuri realized, as he was already standing in front of an old, bearded man, heart quickening as he lowered his head. He felt a weight leave as the circlet was removed, and something lighter was placed on his head. The crown of Lunis, he realized, and straightened back up.

Someone, outside of his peripheral vision, most likely a herald, shouted out his name, and the crown repeated it. King Yuuri, Ruler of the Night.

He had thought nobody had believed in him, as the king that wasn't supposed to be. He had been gladly mistaken as he looked over at Phichit, Benz, and Dao, all with smiles on their trusting faces. He looked towards the people he was supposed to lead, and saw faces that he knew, with a sure feeling, that he could and would protect these people until his dying breath.

* * *

 **I will post a picture of what I think the coronation outfit would look like on my tumblr: OurBlueStorm**


	12. Crimson

**Ugh. I suck at this. I forgot to update again yesterday, so maybe Tuesday isn't the best choice. Thinking about updating Sundays. More notes at the bottom.**

* * *

Maybe this wasn't going to be as hard as he thought it was. Yuuri hadn't been king for a week, and already there had been complaints about a teenager taking over the post as king, but, after talking to and confiding in Benz about his worries, Yuuri felt better about it. He hoped to have been quick to disprove the rumors that the new king of Lunis was a wimp by taking down the traitor of a Prime Minister as quickly as he could.

He remembered the moment clearly. He had called the Minister to him, and he had come, if disgruntledly. "James Orson," he had said once the man had walked into the room, and the minister alerted in a moment, bowing deeply. Yuuri knew that these were only formalities, of course, and he had never truly held Orson's loyalties. "You are stripped of your titles and arrested for treason against the crown."

James Orson straightened up. "I feared this moment would come." You can arrest me if you want, Your Majesty, but just know that my master knows. He knows everything, and won't have for my arrest."

Orson had quickly pulled two knives from his belt, hidden in the folds of his robes, and charged Yuuri. Guards fled into the room, surrounding the former Prime Minister, and restricting his arms behind him and escorting him out of the room, where he would be officially sentenced and condemned to prison for the rest of his days.

Benz had not wanted to make a large deal of Orson's arrest, and the senate and nobles had agreed to keep the true nature of the traitor's arrest under wraps. They instead claimed that Orson had fallen ill and resigned to move away to a small village in the northeast. Phichit had snickered at the false location of Orson's new home, as nobody had been allowed to live there due to the close proximity to the prison where Orson would be contained.

Yuuri was glad that most of the downgrading rumors of him had dissipated after Orson's arrest, and had gained more respect among the officials of his own kingdom. Shortly after Orson had been in front of a judge, a new Prime Minister was elected in the form of Alain Leroy.

Alain had been elected onto the Senate about ten years ago, and had chosen not to run again after his five-year term was up, claiming to want to take care of his toddler son and wife. He had remained popular amongst the people, however, as he worked alongside his wife.

Alain's wife, Nathalie, was a wealthy woman who owned a popular clothing shop with her husband in the largest village in the kingdom, the same one surrounding the castle. She had branched out a few years ago to the smaller villages in the forests surrounding the ring-shaped island, but as a result, her and her family had become well known throughout the kingdom.

Alain and Nathalie were both very intelligent and knew it full well. However, Yuuri found quickly that their son, Jean-Jacques, nicknamed JJ, even at age thirteen, was insufferable. The young boy had quickly taken to his father's power and popularity, and fed off it like a newborn.

On trips to the castle, he paraded around like he owned the place. The child showed no respect for anyone other than Yuuri, and did not realize his relationship with Phichit. Yuuri had given Phichit special permission to not bow or give formalities when the two were interacting. However, JJ had tattled to his father, who had shared this with Benz, who then reprimanded his son, despite Yuri's protesting.

Despite the bickering between father and son, the conflict had included Phichit snapping at Benz, and Benz snapping at Phichit. Dao had eventually come in and grabbed both of their ears to pull them away privately. Leaving Yuuri to his own thoughts, he went to his room and changed into civilian style clothes and roamed the village.

He stared longingly at the children racing along the cobblestone pathways, full of energy, with their siblings and family. A pang echoed in his head, and he tore his eyes away. He separated himself away from everyone else, gazing through windows in shops with pretty woman with packages in their arms, some leading along children, or holding hands with other people.

A group of drunk men stumbled out of a bar, the owner chasing them out with a broom and chuckling quietly to himself when two collided and landed on the ground. The stared at each other for a moment, then burst out laughing and toasted each other with the remains of their drinks. Another drunk man with hazel eyes giggled as he stumbled up to Yuuri. The man dropped his drink to pick up a red rose on the ground to offer it to Yuuri. He took the rose from the man, smile amusedly, and watched the man walk away, swaying slightly.

He took a long look at the rose. It was very red, almost crimson, he noticed. These red roses only grew in Solis; the roses in Lunis were a darker color due to them being modified to grow without the sun. He looked around at shops around him, but did not see any florists that seemed out of the ordinary enough to import red roses from Solis. He looked down at the rose again, and smiled. He hoped it was a good omen, but didn't know what else to think of the crimson flower. Bright colors in the darkest of places.

* * *

 **If you want to go see the original art for the characters of this au, check out beanpots on tumblr. While you're at it, follow me. Please.**


	13. Please?

**The original art for the characters is on beanpots on tumblr. I made it so that the art that is on the site is just the outfit that they would wear for the eclipse or something else. There are other outfits that I have planned out for the more casual moments in this Au.**

* * *

 **Time skip- five and a half years later**

 **Early summer in Lunis**

"Please?'

"No."

" _Please_?"

"Phichit, I said no."

Phichit pouted. "I don't want to be alone again. This will be the first time in ages that you've stayed!"

Yuuri snorted and turned away. "Exactly. Which is why this time won't make any difference."

"Right, which is why you should stay this time! It's fun, but I hate being alone!"

Yuuri looked to his friend. Phichit's bottom lip quivered. " _No_. I don't mind going to these things, but I just raise the moon and it's over. There's no point in staying for the party."

"It's not just raising the moon, Yuuri. It's an eclipse. With- "

"Don't say it."

"-King Viktor."

"Ugh," Yuuri groaned. "I can't believe you're still on about this. We had one conversation, five and a half years ago. There have been absolutely no words since then."

"One conversation is enough to know, Yuuri," Phichit smiled. "Another can't hurt."

Yuuri rolled his eyes. There was no reason arguing with Phichit. "Give me three good reasons to go, and I'll go." He saw Phichit open his mouth, but interrupted him. "And nothing about King Viktor. That's not a good reason."

Phichit pouted. "Fine. There's good food." He looked at Yuuri, who raised an eyebrow. "That's a good reason, so shut up. Secondly, I'll be there, so you won't be alone." He heard a sigh, but didn't stop. "Thirdly…" He paused. "Viktor will be there."

" _Phichit_."

"Alright, fine. Thirdly, you can see Yuuko and Takeshi."

Yuuri looked at him. It was true, he hadn't seen Yuuko and Takeshi in a month or two. The Dream Guardians resided on the other side of the island, in the north, where Yuuri didn't go very often. The last time he had seen them was when one of the triplets had gotten sick and had to be brought to the doctor.

Yuuri looked at Phichit eyeing him hopefully. Yuuri sighed loudly. "Fine."

"Yes!" Phichit whooped. His friend was always very convincing. He walked down the hall silently. After a moment, a greyhound bounded up to him, tail wagging and tongue lolling. He knelt, smiling, and stroked Willow behind the ears. She licked his face, making him splutter. He got back up again, to his quarters, his dog trotting after him.

He flopped onto the bed with a loud groan, Willow jumping up on the bed after him.

The eclipse was one of the events that everyone goes to. It was a large party that happened in the Midworld, where Viktor would raise the sun, and Yuuri would raise the moon to cover it. Yuuri had never stayed for the after parties, but the one that would take place tomorrow would be the same as all the rest. Probably.

 **The next day**

The servants were quick to wake him the next morning. Since the festivities would last almost all day, and continue later in the separate kingdoms throughout the rest of the week, the actual eclipse would happen a little before noon.

The maids dressed him in his more extravagant robes, with the flowing skirt decorated with thousands of stars that seemed to move with him. It was tied up to his high waist, the black top with sleeves that opened like a bell. A tighter sleeve came out from the top, covering the back of his hand, staying like that with a loop connected to his middle finger. The cloak was fastened around his shoulders with a silver clasp. The cloak, like the skirt, was decorated with stars, but the cloak was different. It had many stars at the bottom, but they became less sparse up to his shoulders, turning less from a pitch black into a semi-dark gray.

A choker was fastened around his neck, the moon on it following the phases it was currently at. His hair was brushed back and the crown of constellations was placed on his head. The outfit in itself was not heavy. All the cloths he was decorated in were very light, fluttering with every step he took.

Yuuri had worn this outfit before. He wore it to every eclipse, but daily opted for something more casual. But he wouldn't mind wearing this often, as it was actually very comfortable.

The trip to Midworld only took half an hour, as Yuuri had made it a point he wanted to be there early. Everyone else would be coming later in the day, so there would be people crowding the paths, some walking, some in carriages, and some riding horses.

The eclipse was always a large celebration between the two kingdoms. It was their way of celebrating the treaty created between them. Once Yuuri's job was done, he would normally go back to Lunis while the rest of his kingdom took part in the festivities that took place across the grounds of the small palace on Midworld.

Nobody lived in the palace. Yuuri doubted anybody wanted to, though. Everyone who worked to organize the eclipse used the palace as a base for meeting and fixing problems. Yuuri usually went up to the highest balcony to raise the moon, and the royalty and nobles used the large banquet hall to socialize with their counterparts in the other kingdoms.

Yuuri knew the palace was in desperate need of a dusting everywhere that people weren't allowed. All the portraits were covered in a thin layer of protective cloth, but he had never seen what the pictures depicted. He had never voiced his concern to the senate, so nobody had been in there to clean in years.

Nevertheless, it was a beautiful palace. Since the days and nights passed like they did on earth, there were lovely sunsets and sunrises that could be seen from the balconies. The grounds surrounding it were full of flowers which grew in abundance, so that merchants could come to take them and boast of their rare specimens.

The grounds were bustling by the time Yuuri got there. Vendors had set up booths in the hope of some extra profit with the larger crowd. People were already there, buying and selling to their heart's content before the day got too warm to be pleasant anymore.

The moment Yuuri stepped out of his carriage, there was a shout of his arrival from a herald, and everyone stopped whatever they were doing to bow respectfully. Yuuri had never really liked when people bowed. It made him seem too above them, when really, he was one of them disguised in expensive clothing and respectful servants. As a result, he had grown a habit of bowing back. It was something his father and his mother had both done, and Yuuri had taken it on in the hopes of continuing their legacy.

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 **Btw, you guys are totally welcome to ask me questions. Actually, please do. And review. Please.**


	14. Hello Again

**I'm just going to assume you know that I'm sorry. Have a chapter.**

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It was only an hour before the crowds started coming and Yuuri retreated inside the ancient palace. As expected, it was practically empty at the time, aside from two conversing guards who saluted immediately when he walked in.

He smiled politely back as he passed, his own elite guards following closely behind him. He was quick to dismiss them, leaving only Otabek, his bodyguard dressed in his silvery-blue armor behind. Otabek had been given this job as soon as he had gained his knighthood. His officials were quick to notice that the young man worked hard in all his assignments, and gave him the position after Yuuri's previous bodyguard retired.

Otabek had been faithful to Yuuri ever since that fateful day five and a half years ago. Even when he didn't hold his position as a bodyguard, he had befriended Yuuri. It had given him the advantage in being appointed, as Yuuri had made a clear point he didn't want a stranger following him everywhere.

Now, Otabek followed him through the people beginning to swarm. It wasn't long before Yuuri heard a commotion outside, and knew exactly what it was: the king of Solis had arrived.

Viktor, also had noticed the large crowd outside, and his guards had been quick to lead him to the solitude of inside, where servants and other officials had begun to gather.

Yuuri had been talking with two nobles, Guang-Hong Ji and Sueng-Gil Lee, when King Viktor walked in. On cue, everyone bowed deeply, save Yuuri, who made eye contact with the blue eyes, and slightly bowed respectfully, earning a smile and a nod back.

King Viktor was flanked by several helmeted guards and his bodyguard, who was not wearing a helmet. Yuuri knew who one of the guards were. One time, at a different eclipse, one of King Viktor's guards had been of duty and had resorted to flirting with Yuuri instead. The name Christophe Giacometti had been seared into his brain after that experience. Viktor's bodyguard's name was Mila Babicheva. As Yuuri had heard, she had been an exemplary student and been one of the most gifted swordswomen in all of Solis. Her bright red hair matched her gold armor rather well as she stood dutifully by Viktor's side.

Viktor was a sight in himself. He was wearing a piece of clothing that almost resembled that of a military officer, but the bottom extended down to the floor. A cape was wrapped around his shoulders, with what looked like clouds draping across the top. The top half of the cape was a calm orange, the color seen just as the sun was rising. The bottom half was a sky blue that seemed to ripple with the cloth, in a way that made Yuuri want to run it through his fingers to see if he was really touching the day sky.

Viktor was wearing brown gloves, and his crown was resting on his silvery hair. Yuuri had been surprised, when just after his coronation, Viktor had cut it from its previous waist length to a much shorter cut that covered his left eye. It had been a shock to both kingdoms, but Yuuri had decided that he like the more mature look of the other king.

The people in the room rose from their bows and continued with their conversations. The two noble Yuuri had been speaking with were called away. Viktor strolled up to Yuuri, his blue eyes shining.

"You look wonderful," Viktor said quietly, sliding up next to him, just loudly enough so that only Yuuri could here.

Yuuri was blushing. He knew it, but whispered back nonetheless. "As do you."

Viktor seemed happy with these comments exchanged between them, and walked away. Yuuri released the breath he didn't realize he had been holding. He couldn't understand why, after so long, Viktor would want to say something so personal and flirtatious. Although, the king of Solis had been known to be rather… well, sexual.

Yuuri tried to shake the feeling out of his head. _It's stupid_ , he thought to himself. _We must be professional. If we even tried to have a real relationship, we would have to be secretive and-_ He cut himself off before he could finish the thought, reminding himself to be a king, and not another lover of the king of Solis. Rumors were floating around that he had had many, even if the man claimed that he was a romantic, and would never seek someone purely for pleasure.

At least, that's what he said, right? Well, said leader of the sun kingdom had been known to be rather surprising during his reign, thriving off his unpredictability. He might have just said that to lead people off guard, and then throw them all into a pit of confusion. It wouldn't be totally against his character, would it?

Maybe Yuuri was just overthinking it. Maybe King Viktor had really thought he looked good, and decided to voice it to him in a large room of people, who could have been listening and getting the wrong idea! And of course, Viktor had seen him in these clothes before, so why would he chose this specific meeting between them to voice it? Again, it would absolutely be in the king's character to plan out an exceptionally flirtatious comment just because he knew that Yuuri would be stuck next to him for the rest of the day. But the only way that he would have known that was if he had already spoken to Phichit, his friend betraying him by telling the king of his intention to stay, all the while mulling over the fact that his colleague had just said that he looked good!

"Yuuri?"

Yuuri whirled around, now face-to-face with the viceroy of dusk, with what was most likely a very blank look on his face.

"Yuuri, you've been having a staring contest with the floor for five minutes," Phichit said.

Yuuri blinked, his face returning to normal. "Sorry. I was just thinking."

His friend snorted loudly. "Yeah, you were. I saw Viktor say something to you."

Yuuri turned away, hopefully hiding the blush creeping up on his cheeks. "It was nothing important."

Phichit hid another sound of disbelief behind a cough. "Suuure."

"Shut up, Phichit."

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	15. Beautiful

**I swear, I could just update on Wednesdays and nobody would notice.**

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Yuuri hid in a corner of the entrance hall of the palace until his call to raise the moon came. Otabek stood a few feet away, looking throughout the crowd, his gaze lingering on a certain young man. Yuuri followed his bodyguard's gaze until it came to rest on a teenager with chin-length blonde hair, wearing orange robes with slight pink tones: Yuri Plisetsky.

Yuuri roughly remembered meeting the boy years ago, at Viktor's coronation. Nikolia Plisetsky had announced his plans to retire a little while ago, so it only made sense that Plisetsky come as he would soon be taking up his grandfather's post once he was retired.

It reminded him slightly of Phichit's current predicament. Benz had also recently voiced his plan to give his job to his son, and Phichit, now more than old enough to take up the job at twenty-one years, was anxious to start really do his part for his kingdom.

Speaking of Phichit, he had been drawn to one of the Solis guards, who had taken off his helmet, for some reason. Chris and Phichit were chatting like friends, both with… Yuuri looked harder, blushes on their cheeks. He couldn't help but roll his eyes. Oh, well. They did look like they could be a cute couple.

Another cute couple walked in, and he immediately recognized them, and started to walk forward.

They must have seen him first, however. Yuuko grabbed her husband, Takeshi's hand, and dragged him forward. "Yuuri!" she exclaimed, and threw her arms around his neck. He hugged back, and once she had pulled away, she fixed a strand of hair that had fallen down his face. Yuuko was such a mother.

"Hi, Yuuri," came a voice from Takeshi, who had been standing awkwardly behind her wife.

"Hi, Takeshi," Yuuri replied with a smile. "Where are the girls?" he asked, as he had not seen them.

"They're with my mother in the Kono village," Yuuko replied. "They wanted to come, but I knew they would just cause trouble, and I wanted their first time to be special."

"The next eclipse falls on their birthday, though," Takeshi piped up. "I think that would definitely be a good time."

Yuuri smiled to himself. He would enjoy having the girls at the eclipses. They would bring the life that these usually boring events needed. Of course, he really couldn't say that they were boring when he never really went. But he could certainly say that it was boring now.

People were merely milling around, waiting for the main event: Yuuri's moon to cover up Viktor's sun, a sign of the steady treaty that had held itself and the kingdoms together for eons. The eclipses had been declared a holiday throughout the two neighboring kingdoms, allowing people to mingle with others from different kingdoms in a declared moment of peace.

It wasn't impossible for people to see friends and lovers from the other kingdom, of course, but the distance between the two would make it hard to keep a steady relationship given the half-hour trip merely to the Midworld.

Yuuri shook the thoughts out of his head when he felt a hand on his shoulder. Benz looked him in the eye. "It's time, Yuuri."

The usual butterflies fluttered around in Yuuri's stomach for a moment, but nevertheless, he followed his mentor up the grand staircase to the large balcony that overlooked the huge courtyard and gardens that surrounded the ancient palace.

He stood on the balcony, seeing the people below notice his presence, cheering loudly. The citizens only got louder when Viktor joined him up on the balcony, just as ready to do his part as Yuuri was. Admittedly, Viktor's job was merely to stand next to Yuuri on the balcony during the solar eclipses, but his part during the solar eclipses was much more important: moving the sun to such an angle where the moon appeared red.

He looked up to see the sun, and the people immediately silenced when Yuuri felt his vision start to change. During a solar eclipse, people around him claimed that his eyes glowed blue. Of course, he couldn't see his own eyes, but always knew something changed when he brought out his true power.

Yuuri knew his or Viktor's magic wasn't something to play with. With just a thought, he could blast a man back with an explosion of blue magic, or make anything fly around a room at his will. He assumed Viktor could do the same, as these powers had only appeared once he had been given his father's role of raising the moon, and Viktor also had the respective role of raising the sun.

Through his blue-tinged vision, seen as glowing eyes to the people below, he looked up to the sky, seeing only the sun, shining brightly overhead, and the moon beside it. Focusing, he controlled the moon, and the courtyard grew darker, the shadow growing larger with every growing second, the dark moon covering the bright sun.

As he continued with his magic, Yuuri felt a gaze burning into his back. He didn't dare turn around and look, as raising the moon in the middle of the daytime took much concentration, but felt his cheeks flush up lightly at the thought.

At the peak of the cycle, Yuuri looked down from the sky and saw everything surrounded by pitch black. Only then did he turn around to face the burning gaze, seeing King Viktor looking at him through the darkness, everything around him glowing with its daytime shimmer.

The cycle was almost over at this point. Yuuri's vision started to turn back to normal, and the sky began to grow lighter again. The people started growing louder, cheering as the moon finally relinquished its hold on the sun, separating from it completely at Yuuri's command.

He turned to face the gaze again. Viktor was looking at him with a gaze of pure awe and admiration. Yuuri blushed, turning away to face the crowd as his brighter counterpart joined him to face the people.

Viktor looked over at Yuuri, seeing the man's glow dim slightly as the remnants of his magic washed away. "Beautiful," Viktor muttered. It should have only been something that Viktor himself heard, but the King of night only blushed darker, refusing to meet the other's glance.

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	16. Moonlit Gardens

**Yay! I updated on time! Btw, you guys are in for a doozy this chapter... ehehehe**

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Viktor's POV

King Yuuri had had one too many glasses of champagne. The king of night had been sitting alone near the table with drinks in the large, crowded, stuffed up banquet room. There were a few people playing instruments, people dancing with partners, and Yuuri was glaring at them, grabbing a new glass once he finished the last. Viktor counted eleven empty flutes on the table next to him. The king had grown tipsy after six, and was now downing drink after drink. Amusedly, Viktor walked up to the other man.

"Can I take one?" he asked, gesturing to the still full glasses next to the drunk king, "or are these all reserved for you?"

King Yuuri gave Viktor a skeptical look, hiccupped quietly, but waved a hand, a silent gesture for yes. Viktor grabbed a glass and sat in the seat next to the other king. "So," he started quietly. "How have things been in Lunis lately?"

"Fine," Yuuri answered sloppily. "Nothing too big going on. The Prime Minister's son being a pain in the ass, as usual, and Benz is retiring."

Benz. Definitely not a name Viktor was familiar with. "Who's that?"

Yuuri burped loudly, setting his now empty champagne flute aside, and grabbing yet another. "Viceroy of Dusk. Decided to relax for a while. Can't blame him. The man's a miracle in himself. I wouldn't be here without him," he answered, taking a sip.

Viktor did the same. "His son's taking over, right?" Getting a nod from the other king, he leaned back in his chair. "Nikolai Plisetsky, our Viceroy of Dawn wants to retire, as well. He's gotten to the age, too. His grandson is capable, but I'm not sure to what extent."

He heard a grunt from beside him. They sat in silence for a few more minutes, when Yuuri abruptly started talking again. "Are the rumors true?"

Viktor was taken aback. It apparently wasn't like the king of Lunis to be so straightforward. "About what? There are many rumors about me."

"The ones that you sleep with a new woman every week," came the shaky reply.

Viktor couldn't help but snort. "No, I don't. Even if I did, I wouldn't sleep with women." Seeing the confused expression on Yuuri's face, he continued. "I'm gay, so I wouldn't sleep with women until I need an heir, which I am not in great need of at the moment, despite what Yakov says about me needing a wife."

Yuuri chuckled lightly. "I can relate. Too many people have been saying I should get a wife, but I'd rather have a man to stand with me. I was just wondering, because you were… what's the word… seducing people left and right earlier today. "

Viktor felt his face grow warm. He had almost forgotten his comment to Yuuri earlier, and had most definitely not expected it to be brought up in conversation.

"What's wrong?" Yuuri asked. "Your face is very red."

Viktor coughed out of embarrassment. Yuuri was drunk, and wouldn't have any shame in bringing it up. However, he had meant what he said, the king of Lunis did look stunning tonight. "It's nothing," he stammered. "It's just warm in here. How about we take a walk outside?"

A nod of clarification, and the two walked out the large doors, to the main entrance, where they exited the palace, cool air hitting them in the face. The sun had gone down a few hours ago, Viktor briefly remembering Yuuri disappearing for a few minutes to raise the moon, heralding night in. The people had crowded to the windows, yearning to experience a sunset, as most people were only able to see them from a distance in their kingdoms.

The two wandered through the gardens, music floating through the courtyard, illuminated by fairy lights and lit torches. Yuuri's shoulder was very close, the faintest of touches breezing by. The statues looming out of the darkness were eerie without the lights, but now the stone angels looked almost alive under the flickering lights from inside the palace.

"They really should fix this place up," Viktor thought out loud, looking up in the shuttered windows. "I wonder how long it's been since people actually lived here."

Yuuri hummed lightly. "I believe they used it during the first treaty, when the royal families from the two kingdoms were joined, and they lived here while holding up their duties from this palace. When the generals started becoming suspicious of the other kingdoms, they war broke out, and the royal family was killed because of it."

Viktor knew this story, but not the part about the conjoined families. "Then the new families came to power, and a new treaty was formed when everyone was tired of fighting," he continued, and smiled at Yuuri. "You must have had good tutors. I never learned about the conjoined lines between the kingdoms."

Yuuri shrugged. "It was only mentioned once or twice in the texts, but I thought it was fascinating. There were no other records of it, though, only portraits hidden in the back most corridors of the castle."

He hiccupped again loudly. The alcohol was definitely getting to his head now. He started swaying lightly when a new song started playing. "Heh… I know this one. I think it's Aria."

Viktor listened silently. He, also, had heard the song.

"H-hey," Yuuri whispered in Viktor ear, suddenly. Viktor jumped a little bit, but looked Yuuri in the eye. They were twinkling in a way that told Viktor that Yuuri wouldn't remember this tomorrow. "W-wanna dance with me?"

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 **Cue cliffhanger. Please review!**


	17. Don't Talk Back

**I'm so sorry this is super late. I went on a vacation last week to Florida and didn't have time to finish the chapter, let alone update. I hope to be able to update again on Tuesday, but as of late, I've been obsessing way too hard over the new Infinity War trailer. (*squee!* so excited) Sorry it's a bit short, but I wanted to get you a new chapter as soon as possible.**

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Viktor's POV

"W-wanna dance with me?"

Viktor's face flushed. "Alright…" he trailed off when Yuuri grabbed his hands to put one around his own waist, and held the other tight in his own hands. Yuuri's head rested against Viktor's chest.

Viktor felt like his heart was going to explode. Yuuri was beautiful, yes, and Viktor couldn't help quickly falling in love, but this was so… wrong. They could get in serious trouble for this. There would be somebody claiming that they can't do their jobs correctly while being so biased as being in a relationship.

But still… Yuuri was beautiful. The flickering torchlight illuminated his face, making his dark clothes shimmer lightly. His blue-tinted cheeks flushed slightly from the alcohol, hair brushed back to show off his soft but stunning features. Thick eyelashes brushed up against his cheeks as they fluttered shut, head still resting on Viktor's chest. He really hoped Yuuri couldn't hear his heartbeat. (Hehe…. Get it?)

Yuuri's eyes stayed shut, and his head supported itself again. The soft music floated through the palace next to them, the pair still swaying lightly. Yuuri's arms tightened around Viktor's neck, and he slowly leaned up towards Viktor's face.

Viktor couldn't help himself. Yuuri was asking for it, and Viktor really wanted to give it to him. He leaned down, his own eyes closing. A fire was growing larger his chest, growing larger and larger until he was numb on the inside.

A pair of lips lightly brushed his. The fire exploded, and Viktor lost what should have been his control, pulling the smaller man closer to him, and kissing him fervently. Yuuri only kissed back, lean fingers tangling in his hair, tugging lightly. Normally, Viktor hated it when people pulled his hair, but this was different. It was… bliss.

Viktor pulled back, regretfully, and Yuuri only chased the kiss for a few moments more. They stood for another moment, still swaying to the music, eyes closed and foreheads pressed together.

He heard a giggle, and opened his eyes. Yuuri was smiling drunkenly, and Viktor cursed himself mentally. He shouldn't have been stupid enough to kiss a drunk man and expect him to hold his feelings until morning. "Y-you kissed back," Yuuri gasped breathlessly.

Viktor flushed. "I… I guess I did. Sorry."

Yuuri only got closer. "Don't apologize." He leaned in again, and Viktor did the same and-

"What are you two doing?!"

Viktor jumped away from an oblivious Yuuri, who seemed very confused, and not surprised.

Phichit, Otabek, Yurio, and Mila all stood at the edge of the garden, about twenty-five meters away. Phichit, Mila, and Otabek all looked like they wanted to laugh, but Yurio looked downright livid. "You two are idiots!" He practically screamed at them, face reddening. Viktor failed at keeping back a chuckle. "WHAT?!" The younger man shrieked.

Viktor sniggered. "Your face is so red."

Yurio almost had steam coming out of his ears. "You think I look funny?! You look like a… a…"

At this, Phichit let loose a loud laugh. (tongue twister!) "You c-can't even come up w-with a real insult!" He doubled over, clutching his stomach as he giggled. The others joined in laughing.

Viktor wiped away a fake tear. "Honestly, Yura. It doesn't matter. King Yuuri here got drunk, and well…" He turned and winked back at Yuuri, who blushed. "He's a flirty drunk, let's just say." He turned back to Phichit. "You might want to take him home. He might hurt himself."

Mila snickered at that. "Himself and the hearts of innocent men." Viktor shot her warning glance, and she stopped after that, but she still held a mischievous glint in her eyes.

She turned away, and Viktor followed her. He turned back for a short glance back at Yuuri who was laughing loudly at something a snorting Phichit had said.

He heard a loud groan from next to him. Yurio was rolling his eyes at Viktor. "What?!" he flung back.

Yurio just grumped. "Dumbass," he muttered under his breath.

Viktor only turned away in response, laughing in his head. "You'll get it one day. Maybe."

"Like I want to," snapped the teenager. "You should have seen yourself, galloping across daisy-filled prairies full of unicorns and butterflies with that piece of garbage next to you," he said, his voice turning to a mocking tone.

Viktor may have gotten a little angry at that. "At least show some respect. He's a king, just like me. And just because you have a high position doesn't mean you get to insult whoever you choose."

Yurio rolled his eyes again. "Whatever you say, old man."

Mila just watched the pair with amused eyes. "We're going back to Solis."

"Alright," Viktor grunted in return, still smoking from Yurio's retort.

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 **I'll do my best to update this Tuesday, but no promises. Please review!**


	18. Stupid Bird

**I'm so sorry this is late again. I've been super swamped with school and life in general. Sorry I wasn't able to update last week, and this one is still super short.**

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Yuuri's POV

Yuuri awoke with a splitting headache. Groaning, he sat up, jostling a slightly disgruntled Willow. He looked around the room. It was his own, the curtains drawn, tossed into complete darkness that was native to him. He huffed and swung his feet over the edge of his bed. He waved his hand, and, using his magic, lit the torches in the room.

Yuuri peeked out the window to see the sun in the midworld, slowly approaching high noon. He went to change into different clothes, finding his robes from the previous day bunched up on the floor. He would have to tell the maids to wash them as soon as possible.

He slipped into a dark leather tunic with black pants and boots, and turned to make his way downstairs. Most of the other people would be sleeping during the day, but Yuuri chose to take a walk down the silent halls. Sleeping during the night had its benefits-he could wander freely without a care in the world, with nobody to tell him what to do.

It was a short while before he came across anybody awake. Phichit had bounded up beside him, giggling madly.

"What happened?" Yuuri asked.

This only made Phichit laugh harder. "You don't remember anything from last night?"

At this point, Yuuri was staring to freak out. "No! What did I do?"

Phichit doubled over, and Yuuri could see tears of laughter forming in his eyes. "Y-you asked King Viktor to dance, Yuuri!"

Yuuri blanched. "W-what happened…?" he asked tentatively.

Phichit grinned. "You should have seen his face. I wasn't up close, but he looked pretty dumbfounded. Then you guys went outside, and…" he trailed off, snickering at Yuuri's expression. "Well… you kissed him."

"WHAT?!" Yuuri screamed, most likely waking up half the castle. "I…wha… ho-WHAT?" came the splutter. "Why didn't you stop me?!"

"You wouldn't have listened," Phichit said, still grinning. "You got SO drunk."

Yuuri buried his face in his hands. "Uuuuugh. I can't believe it." He peeked out from behind his fingers. "Who else saw?"

"I think I was the only one who saw the kiss, but Otabek, Viktor's bodyguard, and the viceroy of dawn saw you two dancing. They dragged him away, and that was the end of it."

The two heard footsteps behind them, to see Otabek walking down the hallway. "Did you tell him about last night?"

Phichit snickered. "Yep."

Yuuri appreciated Otabek for not teasing him outwardly, but there was still a laughing twinkle in the man's dark eyes.

Yuuri grumped and turned down the hallway again. "I'm going back to my room. Don't bother following me." He heard Phichit's snickers, and stormed down the hallway.

He reached his room and opened the window. He looked out, the cool air washing over his face, giving him momentary peace. He groaned and flopped down on the bed, laying there for a few moments.

He only lifted his head up when he heard the gentle flapping of wings and a soft coo. He turned around to see a golden eagle staring at him with beady eyes from the sill of the window.

He stared for a moment. Golden eagles did not exist in Lunis. The most common birds one could see in the kingdom would be owls, never eagles. Yuuri assumed it was a bird from Solis that had lost its was, possible.

The bird cocked its head and let out a soft cry. That's when Yuuri noticed the rose attached to its foot. Definitely from Solis. Roses did not grow in Solis. Yuuri slowly stood, and took the rose from the eagle, which then fluttered off the sill and onto the floor. Yuuri took another glance at the rose.

At first, the flower seemed yellow, but when he looked closer, it almost seemed to glow with yellow light. The petals seemed as if they were covered in a gold dust, and the thorns had all been picked carefully off, with the green leaves that were attached to the stem in the exact same uniform shape.

Whoever had picked this rose had clearly taken great caution and care choosing this one. It was a beautiful rose, but Yuuri could feel the darkness of his kingdom slowly seeping away its life. He set the rose down on the sill, and turned to the golden bird that was pecking at his floor.

He shook his head, as if the creature could understand him. "Stupid bird," he muttered under his breath. He wasn't angry, just upset. He knew exactly who this flower was from. "Such a stupid bird, getting my hopes up."

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 **Please review!**


	19. Evangeline

**I've been struggling a lot recently. This chapter in particular was really hard for me, just in general. I've been dealing with a lot of stuff right now, but the end of the school year is coming up for me so I hope to be able to bring you guys longer and better quality chapters then.**

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Over the next fews days, several more roses appeared, all delivered by the same golden eagel. And every time, Yuuri returned them. Yes, the roses were beautiful, but Yuuri noticed that the moment they touched the dark confines of his kingdom, they would begin to wither and die. Unwilling to have that guilt, he would send them back. And every day, they would be sent to him again.

Yuuri rolled his eyes as he walked into his room to see the golden eagle back again with the crimson rose. He peered closer to see a note clutched in its beak. Curious, he released the bird from its burdens, and it fluttered down onto the floor. He peered at the note again:

 _Don't you know who it is, Yuuri?_

 _-Viktor_

There was a tiny heart scrawled next to the name of the king of day. The first name. And his own name was written with such care and precision that it looked almost fake.

Sighing, he picked up a small piece of paper and scribbled a note back.

 _Of course I do, Viktor._

He grinned to himself. If Viktor wanted to be flirty, he would flirt right back.

 _Your lovely flowers keep dying, so I can't keep them. I'll trust you understand._

 _-Yuuri_

He looked at the note in his hands. Was it too straightforward? Too out of character for him? Sure, normally he would have taken caution, and wouldn't have responded, due to any attempt to be professional.

Screw professionalism.

He picked up the eagle, but not before scribbling another sentence on the paper.

 _Your eagle is nice. He needs a name._

The eagle cooed as Yuuri gave him the note, and the already withering flower, which the bird clamped in its beak and flew away, out the window.

 **The next day**

Yuuri returned to his room after a particularly long day, ready to sleep at the first given chance. However, the eagle sat on the window sill again, a note and a rose clamped in beak. This rose was different, however. The other roses were either crimson or a shiny gold. This one was gold as well, but it glowed with sunlight.

Yuuri walked over to the bird, which dropped its load as soon as he stroked a finger across its head. Yuuri looked at the note:

 _You could have told me that sooner. I hate to hear that my gifts bring you grief. I humbly request that you don't return this one. This rose is made of pure sunlight. It will sustain itself until my magic fades, which I hope is no time soon._

 _-Viktor_

Yuuri smiled at the scribbled heart next to the name, and the note added after that:

 _Her name is Evangeline. She's my favorite pet, at least until it comes to my dog, Makkachin._

Yuuri smiled, and wrote back his own note.

 _I would love to meet Makkachin. I actually have a dog as well, Willow. She's very friendly. I think you would like her._

He looked back at the eagle who was preening her feathers on the windowsill. "So… Evangeline." He huffed and sat down on the bed, note still in hand, debating. "What to do with him, Evangeline." He peered over at the bird who was looking at him with glassy eyes. "What the hell," he muttered mostly to himself. Like he had said before, screw professionalism.

He sent off the eagle, and made his way downstairs again. Almost immediately, he ran into his mentor.

"Yuuri," Benz said. "I wanted to talk to you."

Yuuri was confused by the sudden and apparent urgency in Benz's voice. "Is something wrong?" he asked, voice wavering.

Benz smiled sadly. "No, Yuuri. I'm sorry I worried you." He took a breath. "I believe it is time for me to move on."

The words hit Yuuri like a ton of bricks. Benz had finally decided that he wanted to retire. It had been an idea on the table, and Benz had taken great care in teaching Phichit how to take his place. He paused for a moment. "Alright, Benz. Do you think your son is ready?"

Benz smirked. "He's been ready for ages, Yuuri. I'm just as ready as he is, and I'm sure Dao won't mind having me around more often."

It was true. Benz's wife hadn't seen her husband recently, due to the recent eclipse that had taken place. Benz was always busy during those times. "I'm sure that can't hurt," Yuuri murmured, mostly to himself. Then he spoke to Benz. "I guess I'm just glad you've been preparing him for a while now. I'm not sure what I would do without you."

"You'd be fine, Yuuri. I'm only that person that guides you through the way."

"That's much more important than you realize," Yuuri said. "I will be glad to still have you around once it's official."

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 **Reviews are much appreciated! Check out my tumblr while you're at it!**


	20. Viceroy

**Okay. Guys, I'm really sorry. I think I'll put this story on hiatus after I update the next chapter, just because finals are coming up and I'm super stressed. This chapter took me almost three weeks to write, and for now I'm just trying to figure out what the rest might be. Thanks for understanding I love y'all :3**

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Phichit POV

"Phichit Chulanout, do you vow to keep this kingdom safe and aid your leader in their duties, regardless of other commitments, and do you vow to protect the crown at all costs, even if it costs you your life?" the same man who crowned Yuuri said.

Phichit looked over at his friend and king. Yuuri smiled encouragingly. The younger looked back to the man, and said "I do."

There was a loud cheer, and the ring of the viceroy was slipped onto his finger. Phichit smiled down at it, remembering how much he had wanted to wear the ring. His father had worn this ring for years, and he had always looked at it and wondered… what sacrifices had been made.

He looked over to Benz, who was accepting congratulations from several people. He noticed the gray hairs sprouting from his father's temples, and the wrinkles that had formed on his face. He wondered now why he had never noticed them before.

"Hey," Phichit felt a tap on his shoulder and a voice.

He turned around to see Yuuri. "Oh," he remembered what he had wanted to show his friend. "King Viktor is here," he said, grinning maliciously.

Yuuri blushed. "I know," he said through half-closed lips.

Phichit only laughed. "I know you know. Why don't you go say hi? He obviously remembers you, he's looking over here."

Yuuri looked over at Viktor, who was stealing glances at the pair through his conversation with a few Lunis officials. "That's what I'm worried about. I don't know what he thinks… this is."

"Oh, please," Phichit started dragging Yuuri over to where the Solis king was standing. "He'll be fine with it."

"But, Phi-"

"Who will be fine with what?" came the voice, and Yuuri jumped. Viktor was standing behind the pair.

Yuuri blushed, and tried to rush away, but Phichit managed to grab him before he got too far. "It's nothing, I promise," Phichit said, smiling innocently up at the king.

"Well, if that's the case, may I offer my congratulations."

"May I accept your congratulations," Phichit shot back, still holding a grumbling Yuuri back.

Viktor chuckled. "I may have to ask that you let Yuuri go for a moment or three? I wish to… what's the word… discuss the current predicament."

Phichit and Yuuri shared a glance. "What's the predicament?" Phichit mouthed, and Yuuri shrugged. Phichit turned back to Viktor and smiled. "Well, you'll have to tell him what the predicament is first," he said, and shoved Yuuri at Viktor.

He smiled as he watched the pair walk away, chuckling to himself as Yuuri shot him dirty glances over his shoulder.

Moments later, he felt an arm around his waist turn him around, and he found himself face to face with the General of the Solis army, Christophe Geocometti.

"Well, hey there," Phichit said, as he felt Chris gently lead him to a corner of the room. "This is my party, Chris," he pouted. "Don't drag me away, however much I want you to."

"Oh, is that so?" Chris said. He leaned in, lips gently brushing the new viceroy's closed eyelids. "If that's true, I think I should give you my gift now."

"Now? Hmm…" Phichit opened his eyes, grinned, and threw his arms around Chris' shoulders. "Take me away, general."

Yuuri POV

Yuuri let himself be let outside by Viktor. He didn't say anything, and didn't know what to expect.

"Sorry about that."

Yuuri started. "What are you sorry about? I was bored anyways…" He trailed off, cursing himself. Stupid Yuuri. Be professional. You can't be in a relationship with a king from a different kingdom!

"Oh," Viktor laughed. "Good to know. I just… I needed to see you."

Yuuri stared. "You do realize…"

Viktor sighed. "Yes, I do know. This would never work… I'm just so in love with you."

"Wait, what?" Maybe Yuuri was oblivious. That would make sense. Oblivious people never realize, even if it's right in front of them. But then again, Yuuri was _drunk off his ass_ the last time they had seen each other. How on earth was that flattering?

Viktor answered his questions as if he had heard them through Yuuri's brain and not his mouth. "I've been watching you for years." Seeing Yuuri's startled face, he corrected himself. "Sorry, that sounded really weird… I've seen you places for years now, and each time I couldn't help but fall more in love with you. I thought you didn't even know my name until I managed to talk to you at the eclipse and then… you kissed me. I may have gotten my hopes up, but..."

Yuuri had no words. There was nothing in his head that could possibly explain what he was thinking. Something… wrong. Was this really what he had been feeling for the last five years? He thought… actually, he didn't know what he had felt.

"Can… can I show you something?"


	21. Hiatus (Sorry)

**This story is officially on hiatus. Sorry, but I don't have a lot of time to update over the summer. I'll be back maybe late August. I'm so sorry plz don't hate me i love you guys 3**


	22. Dancing

Sorry for the super long wait on this one. I hope it won't be a while before the next chapter but I'm super busy so it may be a few weeks. ):

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The two men retrieved two horses from the stables, and Yuuri led Viktor up into the north. The way he was going almost seemed as if he was going back to Solis, but instead of going west once the bridge over to the midworld came into view, Viktor was confused when Yuuri kept leading his jet black horse north.

The pair rode on the same road and on the same path for about another ten minutes before Yuuri stopped at another fork in the path. Viktor peered down the well-worn path down to a small village glittering with lights. However, Yuuri did not go that way, but took the overgrown path. Maybe it had been recently tread, but not by many people.

As the horses picked their way over the path, Viktor began to grow weary. Where was Yuuri leading him?

It took a few minutes for the pair to emerge from the path into a large clearing right by the shore of the lake that made up most of the land in Lunis. They stood at the bottom of a large cliff, and a small little cottage right next to it with the lights on. Shadows were moving inside.

Yuuri was careful to not be seen by the people in the cottage, as Viktor noticed, and they tied their horses to a nearby tree, out of sight of the window.

Viktor followed Yuuri as he crept past the cottage and towards the cliff. "Yuuri," Viktor hissed out. "Yuuri what-"

"Shh!" Yuuri hushed him quickly. "Don't let them hear you. They don't like it when I come here alone."

"Who is they?" Viktor whispered.

Yuuri, seemingly ignoring him, hurried over to the cliff and crouched down right next to him.

"Yuuri, what- _woah_." The cliff had cracked open, a crack big enough that a human could fit in. Viktor had no choice but to follow as Yuuri slipped in.

Again, Viktor's words were stolen from his mouth. The small crack in the cliff led to a large cavern in the mountain, and the stone floor dropped into a small pool of water, and moonlight shone through a hole in the rock. And, most surprising was the tree growing in the middle of the pool, with small leaves almost glowing with color and light. The tree wasn't abnormally large, but was big enough that it was twice Viktor's height.

"What is it?"

Yuuri was staring at Viktor when he tore his eyes away from the tree. "It's my life force," said Yuuri, approaching the tree. "Mine and every other king before me. We call it the Tree of Dreams."

"Huh," Viktor said. "Poetic."

Yuuri chuckled, a sweet jingle in the silence. "It's not just poetic. Look."

Yuuri reached up and plucked a leaf from an overarching branch above their heads and dropping it in the pool. Viktor wasn't sure what was supposed to happen, but when the leaf touched the water, it created a vision around the entire cave. One moment, Viktor was standing in the cave with Yuuri, and the next he was in a completely different room.

There were people all around them, not from Lunis or Solis, maybe from Midworld. They were all seemingly wrapped around each other, and swaying, dancing to the echoing music from the band up on a raised platform near the wall.

Viktor found Yuuri in the crowd, who was swaying slightly to the music.

"What is this?" Viktor had so many questions floating around his head.

"A dream," Yuuri replied matter-of-factly. "Not mine. I don't know whose, actually. Probably someone from Midworld."

The music kept going. Viktor couldn't help but watch the people smile and laugh with each other, joy filling the room. He looked back at Yuuri and felt the complete urge to grab him and crash their lips together.

 _Get yourself together_ , he chastised himself. _Be classy at the very least_. So Viktor grabbed Yuuri around the waist, and grabbed one of Yuuri's hands.

"Viktor-" Yuuri started, but didn't finish. After a moment, Viktor felt Yuuri relax and place a hand on his shoulder. They swayed with the rest of the room for a few moments. Viktor couldn't help but notice the small blush that grew on Yuuri's cheeks as those moments grew longer.

The vision ended sooner than Viktor would have liked. Even after they found themselves back in the cave, they remained locked in their embrace.

Yuuri cleared his throat, then looked up, away from Viktor and back at the tree. Viktor opened his mouth to say something before Yuuri narrowed his eyes jumped out of his arms and walked back to the tree.

Yuuri reached up and plucked another leaf from the tree and stared at it for a few moments.

"Yuuri?" There was no reply. "Yuuri, what is it?"

Yuuri, saying nothing, held out his hand, the leaf still settled in his palm. Upon closer look, Viktor noticed that the leaf was not like the rest that grew on the tree. It was inky black, and looked dead.

"It's a nightmare," Yuuri said, voice quiet. "I haven't seen one in a while. It usually means something bad is going to happen." He crumpled the leaf in his hand and threw the remains into the pool. The vision that had engulfed the cavern before did not come back, but the pool held the image, and a terrified sounding scream echoed throughout the cave. Viktor shuddered.

Yuuri's eyes were fixed on the ground in front of him. Viktor, sure-footed, walked up to the king of Lunis, grabbed him by the shoulders, and kissed him. They broke apart, moments later, Yuuri with wide eyes and a blush across his face.

Viktor wasn't sure what to expect, but it was not that Yuuri would tentatively lean in and kiss him back.

Viktor smiled against the kiss. He leaned in and deepened in, not far enough to scare Yuuri away. They broke apart again, with Yuuri still blushing, but with a tiny ghost of a smile gracing his face.

Viktor gave a little internal cheer.

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Hope you enjoyed! Plz review it means so much to me.


	23. Shocking Manipulation

**A few weeks later…**

Yuuri looked up as a messenger charged towards him. He was in the gardens outside the castle, minding his own business, reading a book with Phichit.

"Yes, Minami, what is it?"

Minami gasped for air. "I came… from the prison… breakout…"

"Breakout?" Yuuri felt a sinking feeling in his stomach. "Who?"

Minami looked up. "Knise."

The castle was chaos when Yuuri was rushed inside. He was pushed inside a small room off the hall, where Phichit was led inside with his parents. Otabek silently stepped inside as the doors were locked shut.

Yuuri sat down in a cushioned chair to hide his shaking legs. Benz looked concernedly at him, and Phichit looked mortified.

Yuuri waved the servants away who tried to fuss over him. His heart was pounding. He thought of writing to Viktor at first, but convinced himself against it, not wanting to get Viktor worried. The two had been writing letters regularly over the last two months, but hadn't seen each other since they had danced in the cave near the Tree of Dreams.

"Knise… the guy who staged the assassination?" Yuuri snapped to attention as Phichit's question broke the silence.

"Yes," Benz said quietly.

Otabek spoke up: "The guards were found dead outside his cell a few hours ago. We got held up, though. Another high-security prisoner was causing some trouble."

"Who?" The question slipped out of Yuuri's lips before he could stop it.

"The old Prime Minister, James Orson."

Yuuri sank back into the chair again. Knise, the man who murdered his family, had escaped. Who knew what he would do next. "What's the plan?"

"As soon as the coast is clear, we plan to move you to the castle in Midworld. We plan to alert Solis from there. It would be wise to keep you there until Knise is found again."

Yuuri wanted to curl up into a ball and sleep. Overwhelmed with stress, he turned away from the rest of the group. Sending a letter to Viktor wasn't an option, and he would find out soon enough.

A few hours later, Yuuri found himself in a carriage on his way to Midworld. He looked out the window. A team of elite soldiers had been picked to escort them to the castle. The sun was already peeking into the cloudy sky by the time they reached Midworld.

Yuuri stepped out of the carriage, Phichit and Otabek not far behind. Otabek followed him up to his temporary room, and Yuuri crashed onto the bed after changing out of his traveling clothes. Before he could stop them, tears started streaming down his face, and he cried himself to sleep.

He woke up to the sound of the door creaking open. Thinking it was Otabek, he didn't open his eyes. He was greatly surprised, however, when the bed sank down a little bit and a pair of lips was pressed against his own.

His eyes fluttered open, and brown met striking blue. Yuuri sat up almost instantly.

"I didn't realize I was awake for so long."

Viktor smiled. "We left as soon as we heard. But," he paused and frowned, "are you all right?"

Yuuri forced out a smile. "I'm fine."

Viktor was not reassured. He took Yuuri's face in his hands, causing a gasp to escape his mouth.

Yuuri fought as hard as he could against the tears again. His chest tightened, and he pressed his lips together, but it was all in vain. He buried his face into Viktor's shoulder and sobbed.

Viktor wrapped his arms around the other man and gently rubbed his back.

It felt like hours before Yuuri finally stopped crying, and when that finally happened, he let his head droop onto Viktor's shoulder, exhausted. "'M sorry," he mumbled.

"Don't be," Viktor murmured back.

Yuuri sat back and dug his palms into his eyes. "I'm just… tired."

"Do you want me to run a bath?" Viktor asked quietly.

Yuuri just shrugged. Viktor gave a knowing smile and departed to let a servant know.

A few minutes later, Yuuri was soaking in a blissfully warm bath. His eyes fluttered shut as he let his head droop back onto the side of the tub. The door creaked open, and Yuuri saw Viktor peeking through the crack, blushing slightly. He had changed from his traveling clothes into simple civilian clothes.

Yuuri just watched as Viktor opened the door further, stepping inside, and locking the door behind him, all to raised eyebrows from Yuuri.

"Safety precautions," Viktor grinned.

Yuuri snorted, letting his head rest back again, eyes still on the other man. "'Safe' wouldn't be the word I'd use, having two kings in a bathroom with no guards on duty."

"There are guards all around the grounds, and outside the bedroom door," Viktor retorted, stepping closer to the tub and pulling up a stool.

Yuuri just kept watching him.

"Which means…" Viktor continued. "We're safe and alone."

"Alone…" Yuuri repeated slowly as Viktor leaned in closer, lips ghosting across the other's.

"Mhm." Yuuri smirked and leaned back. Viktor let out a pitiful whine. He sat back again and took off his boots.

Yuuri laughed. "What are you-" He was cut off as a pair of lips was smashed against his own. Viktor clambered into the tub, water splashing onto the ground. Yuuri didn't care.

Yuuri sat back from Viktor again, blushing as the shocking revelation came to him- he was naked, in a tub with Viktor, whose hands were everywhere on him.

"We're going to get caught," he mumbled ashamedly. He couldn't focus, not with the way Viktor was mouthing his neck.

"I locked the door," Viktor grinned, pressing his lips against Yuuri's again.

About an hour later, the water had been left cold in the tub, and Viktor had left to ease Yuuri's worries about a "missing king".

Yuuri stretched out his limbs across the mussed sheets. Slowly getting up, he walked up to his traveling cloak, and meaning move it to a hook from the chair he had it thrown across, a pendant slipped out of the pocket.

He picked it up, curiosity overwhelming, and looked carefully at the pattern: a gilded tree across.

His brow furrowed. The only person who would have this pendant was Takeshi, as the guardian of the Tree of Dreams.

A memory flashed in his head, of Takeshi's letter sent to him reporting the loss of this pendant, just the day before Knise escaped.

Knise, the former guardian of the Tree of Dreams.


	24. Confrontations

Yuuri was deadly calm. He silently left the room, the cloak left in the room, and the pendant slipped into his pocket. He made his way to the banquet hall, silent and alone.

There was an intruder in the castle. A murderer. They were not going to leave.

He turned a few corners, picking up his pace. He thumbed the knife he had strapped to his waist – a safety precaution the guards had encouraged him to pick up after the murder of his parents and sister.

He took a deep breath. Knise was in the castle. His brow furrowed as he thought. Maybe it wasn't him. Maybe it was a goon. He shrugged away the thoughts. Somebody was here will ill intent, and he was going to find them.

He made the final turn into the banquet hall, where a crowd of important people had gathered. They made quick glances when he arrived in the doorway, but looked away, thinking nothing of his arrival.

He slowly stepped in. Any one of these people could have been working with Knise, ready to strike Yuuri down the moment they laid eyes on him. Yuuri stepped forward. It didn't take him long to find Takeshi, Yuuko, and the girls. Staying out of sight, he slipped around and silently tapped Takeshi on the shoulder.

The larger man turned around, opening his mouth to greet his friend and king. Yuuri shook his head, placing a finger on his lips to mime silence. Takeshi blinked in surprise, but nodded, and followed Yuuri to a room off the hall.

Now alone, Takeshi rounded on the king. "Are you okay? What's going on?"

Wordlessly, Yuuri pulled out the pendant.

Takeshi stared for a little bit, but then his eyes widened. "Where did you find it?"

"In my cloak," Yuuri said. "It was hanging on a chair, and I was… I was busy, but when I came back, it was in the pocket. But the door was locked. Whoever put in in there was very secretive about it."

Takeshi took the pendant from Yuuri's hand. Its tree emblem reflected the light, making gold flicker across both their faces. "You don't think…" Takeshi trailed off.

"He's here," Yuuri confirmed. "Or someone is."

"We need to get help," Takeshi said. "Or move you to Solis, or something."

"No," Yuuri hissed. "I want to find him."

"We will," Takeshi assured. "Someone will, Yuuri, but you aren't safe here."

"I don't care," Yuuri said. "I'm going to find him, and make him pay."

"I'm sorry, Yuuri," Takeshi apologized. "But this isn't-" He trailed off again as Yuuri placed his fingertips on his friend's forehead. "Yuuri, please. You can't, it's not sa-"

The talking stopped as he sank to the floor, asleep. Yuuri let out a sigh. Using his magic was one thing, but against a friend, it hurt him. He had thought Takeshi would be on his side. Luckily, his magic could erase memories as well, so whenever Takeshi woke up, he wouldn't remember the conversation, and only think he accidentally fell asleep.

He turned around and walked away. Now to find Knise… There was only one place he could think of, at least inside Midworld, that Knise might be waiting for him.

He quickly made his way outside to the gardens, careful that none of the guards saw him. He skirted around the courtyard and slipped through some tall bushes that would conceal him from anybody looking. Hidden among the small maze of shrubbery, he sped around corners, wildly looking around. When he reached the center of the maze, he stopped. There was a small pool of water shimmering in the cloudy afternoon. On the edge of the pool was a stone bench, and there sat a figure, with a hood pulled over their head, facing away from Yuuri and towards the shadows that concealed Lunis in the distance.

"Well, hello!" said the voice cheerfully, if not a bit tiredly. "It's been some time, hasn't it, Yuuri?"

"I don't even know you," Yuuri said defensively.

"Yes, you do!" Knise had not turned around. "Your father was a good friend of mine! I was there when you were born."

"No, you weren't. Those were my father's dying words. He said you tried to destroy the kingdom before I was born, not after, and if he was really your friend, why did you kill him?"

Knise sighed and turned around. "I suppose there's no convincing you, then."

"Convincing me of what?"

Knise stood. "The reason I killed your father… Do you really want to know?"

Yuuri narrowed his eyes, thinking. He did, didn't he? "Tell me."

"The reason I killed your father…" Knise said, circling closer to Yuuri. "Was to get to you."

Yuuri's brow furrowed. "I don't understand."

"That's just it, though!" Knise laughed. "You don't understand, and that's why I needed you alive. It was pure coincidence you weren't in that hall when my assassins got to your parents and sister." He looked at Yuuri and smiled menacingly. "A death like that brings kingdoms together, which is just what I needed. When you were crowned, I knew it was perfect, since you and the new king of Solis would have nobody to turn to but each other. A unified kingdom is so much easier to take over, you see."

Yuuri stepped back. "You killed them to unify a country?"

"Indeed." Knise's breath invaded Yuuri's nose as he leaned forward and bore his yellow teeth. "I just got lucky."

"Why are you telling me this?" Yuuri said, uncertain.

"What's the fun if I don't get to see your reaction? Anyways, you asked." Knise stood back and started to walk away.

"Why shouldn't I just call somebody to arrest you and bring you back to prison?" Yuuri said, hoping that his voice carried.

"Oh, that's right," Knise said. "Well, I think you won't have the strength to scream for help."

"What?" Yuuri asked, confused.

"You'll find out in, hm… right about now, I'm guessing."

Yuuri's heart pounded. He turned to run, expecting an attack at any minute.

Knise's laugh followed him. "There's no point in running, Yuuri! You can't escape yourself, can you?"

Confusion and fear clouded Yuuri's mind as he raced back to the castle.

With no warning, though, pain suddenly reached out and seized him. He fell to the ground, gasping as white-hot heat spread from his chest to every limb on his body. He tried with every fiber of his being to yell out, but nothing came except whimpers and groans.

"You see," said Knise as he came up behind the fallen king, who was writhing on the ground. "I think you'll be surprised with how much I know about the limits of the king."


End file.
